BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

•> 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


TA? 

m 


w. 


ft 


. 


b/ 


' 


KIRTLAND  TEMPLE. 


Young  People's  History 


of  th< 


Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter 
Day  Saints 


Volume  I 


VIDA  E.  SMITH,  Author 


Revising  Committee:       Frederick   M.    Smith,  John  W.  Wight,   Richard  S.  Salyards, 

William  H.  Kelley,  and  the  Board  of  Publication,  viz,  Edmund  L.  Kelley, 

Albert  Carmichael,  Fred  B.  Blair,  Oscar  Anderson,  and 

Thomas  A.  Hougas 


Issued  by 
HERALD  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 

of  the 

Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints 

LAMONI,   IOWA 

1914 


PREFACE 

While  the  General  Conference  of  1910  was  in  ses- 
sion at  Independence,  Missouri,  the  church  was  asked 
to  publish  an  illustrated  history  of  the  church  for 
young  people  "and  others."  The  request  came  from 
the  Sunday  School  and  Religio  associations.  The 
church  decided  to  publish  the  book  and  referred  the 
matter  to  the  Board  of  Publication  and  Church  His- 
torian, giving  them  power  to  act.  In  May,  1910,  the 
author  received  the  following  letter: 

MRS.  VIDA  E.  SMITH,  Lamoni,  Iowa. 

Dear  Sister:  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Publication  and 
Church  Historian  agreeably  to  a  resolution  of  General  Confer- 
ence, to  consider  the  publication  of  a  "Juvenile  Church  History," 
you  were  chosen  to  write  that  part  of  the  history  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  church  to  1852,  the  compensation  to  "be  arranged  with 
the  Church  Historian  and  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board, 
President  E.  L.  Kelley,  Manager  A.  Carmichael,  and  F.  B.  Blair. 

A  resolution  was  passed  providing  that  the  writing  of  the  his- 
tory should  be  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Church  His- 
torian. Very  sincerely  in  bonds, 

J.  A.  GUNSOLLEY, 
Secretary  Joint  Committee. 

The  history  of  the  church  is  the  story  of  a  people 
who  were  pioneers  in  a  great  work  of  God;  a  people 
who  had  a  splendid  message  for  the  world.  Some- 
times it  seems  as  bright  as  a  garden  full  of  blooming 
roses,  all  gladness  and  color  ;  then  it  is  like  a  dull,  gray, 
winter  day,  and  not  a  rose  in  the  garden,  because  there 
is  trouble  and  sadness  for  the  people.  Remembering 
that  in  history  facts  are  sacred  and  truth  is  holy,  the 
story  was  written  as  directed,  to  the  year  1852,  and 
left  with  the  Church  Historian.  At  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1912  the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 


"Whereas,  the  Historian  of  the  Church  in  his  report 
informs  us  that  the  Juvenile  History  is  written  to  the 
year  1852,  and  intimates  that  further  instructions  are 
desirable,  Therefore,  be  it  resolved,  That  we  are  in 
favor  of  its  completion  in  such  a  manner  as  to  include 
the  history  of  the  Reorganization."  In  April,  1913, 
the  General  Conference  voted  to  "sustain  the  commit- 
tee on  Juvenile  Church  History:  The  Historian  and 
the  Board  of  Publication."  And  in  May,  1913,  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  church  to  examine  and 
revise  church  history  passed  upon  the  pages  of  type- 
written matter,  and  handed  the  author  the  following 
letter: 

May  28,  1913. 
MRS.  VIDA  E.  SMITH,  Lamoni,  Iowa. 

Dear  Sister:  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Publication  and 
Historian,  held  May  26,  you  were  unanimously  chosen  to  write  the 
remainder  of  the  Juvenile  History,  from  1852  to  the  present.  The 
following  resolution  was  adopted  touching  the  matter: 

"Resolved,  That  the  author  be  instructed  to  proceed  to  write 
the  rest  of  the  Church  History,  up  to  the  present  time  with  the 
understanding  that  an  effort  be  made  to  include  the  entire  history 
in  one  volume  of  not  more  than  four  hundred  pages.  If  not  so 
able,  to  print  in  two  volumes." 

Respectfully  yours, 

J.  A.  GUNSOLLEY,  Secretary. 

After  carefully  canvassing  the  work  and  counseling 
with  men  of  authority  on  such  questions,  the  story,  to 
the  year  1852,  went  to  the  press  and  comes  to  you  as 
volume  1  of  the  Young  People's  History  of  the 
Church.  We  have  received  many  courtesies  and  much 
kindly  assistance  in  preparing  the  work.  Men  and 
women  both  in  the  church  and  without  helped  us  in 
securing  pictures.  We  assure  all  of  our  appreciation 
and  gratitude  for  word  or  deed  or  generous  thought. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CHAPTER  1. 


In  the  hill  country  in  New  York. 


THE  HISTORY  of  the 
church  begins  with  the 
visit  of  an  angel  to  a 
young  man  named  Jos- 
eph Smith.  The  angel 
came  to  him  while  he 
was  out  in  the  woods, 
praying  aloud.  He  was 
all  alone  when  he  be- 
gan to  pray,  and  he  felt 
a  little  strange  praying 

aloud  in  the  quiet  forest.  He  was  used  to  being  alone 
anywhere,  but  now  he  wanted  the  Lord  to  tell  him 
which  church  he  should  join,  for  there  were  many 
churches.  It  was  morning,  the  day  beautiful  and 
clear,  and  early  in  the  spring  of  1820. 

After  he  began  praying  he  felt  very  much  dis- 
couraged, but  he  kept  trying  to  pray,  and  just  when 
he  felt  that  there  was  no  use  trying  to  do  anything 
more,  he  saw  in  vision  over  his  head,  a  light  brighter 
than  the  sun.  This  light  came  down  around  him.  The 
sadness  and  trouble  left  him.  He  saw  two  persons 
standing  in  the  air.  One  of  them  spoke  to  him.  Then 
the  boy  Joseph  asked  which  of  all  the  churches  was 
right,  and  wanted  to  know  which  he  should  join. 

The  angel  told  him  to  join  none  of  them.  Their 
creeds  (the  ways  they  believed)  were  wrong.  The 


"Whereas,  the  Historian  of  the  Church  in  his  report 
informs  us  that  the  Juvenile  History  is  written  to  the 
year  1852,  and  intimates  that  further  instructions  are 
desirable,  Therefore,  be  it  resolved,  That  we  are  in 
favor  of  its  completion  in  such  a  manner  as  to  include 
the  history  of  the  Reorganization."  In  April,  1913, 
the  General  Conference  voted  to  "sustain  the  commit- 
tee on  Juvenile  Church  History:  The  Historian  and 
the  Board  of  Publication."  And  in  May,  1913,  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  church  to  examine  and 
revise  church  history  passed  upon  the  pages  of  type- 
written matter,  and  handed  the  author  the  following 
letter: 

May  28,  1913. 
MRS.  VIDA  E.  SMITH,  Lamoni,  Iowa. 

Dear  Sister:  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Publication  and 
Historian,  held  May  26,  you  were  unanimously  chosen  to  write  the 
remainder  of  the  Juvenile  History,  from  1852  to  the  present.  The 
following  resolution  was  adopted  touching  the  matter: 

"Resolved,  That  the  author  be  instructed  to  proceed  to  write 
the  rest  of  the  Church  History,  up  to  the  present  time  with  the 
understanding  that  an  effort  be  mude  to  include  the  entire  history 
in  one  volume  of  not  more  than  four  hundred  pages.  If  not  so 
able,  to  print  in  two  volumes." 

Respectfully  yours, 

J.  A.  GUNSOLLEY,  Secretary. 

After  carefully  canvassing  the  work  and  counseling 
with  men  of  authority  on  such  questions,  the  story,  to 
the  year  1852,  went  to  the  press  and  comes  to  you  as 
volume  1  of  the  Young  People's  History  of  the 
Church.  We  have  received  many  courtesies  and  much 
kindly  assistance  in  preparing  the  work.  Men  and 
women  both  in  the  church  and  without  helped  us  in 
securing  pictures.  We  assure  all  of  our  appreciation 
and  gratitude  for  word  or  deed  or  generous  thought. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CHAPTER  1. 


In  the  hill  country  in  New  York. 


THE  HISTORY  of  the 
church  begins  with  the 
visit  of  an  angel  to  a 
young  man  named  Jos- 
eph Smith.  The  angel 
came  to  him  while  he 
was  out  in  the  woods, 
praying  aloud.  He  was 
all  alone  when  he  be- 
gan to  pray,  and  he  felt 
a  little  strange  praying 

aloud  in  the  quiet  forest.  He  was  used  to  being  alone 
anywhere,  but  now  he  wanted  the  Lord  to  tell  him 
which  church  he  should  join,  for  there  were  many 
churches.  It  was  morning,  the  day  beautiful  and 
clear,  and  early  in  the  spring  of  1820. 

After  he  began  praying  he  felt  very  much  dis- 
couraged, but  he  kept  trying  to  pray,  and  just  when 
he  felt  that  there  was  no  use  trying  to  do  anything 
more,  he  saw  in  vision  over  his  head,  a  light  brighter 
than  the  sun.  This  light  came  down  around  him.  The 
sadness  and  trouble  left  him.  He  saw  two  persons 
standing  in  the  air.  One  of  them  spoke  to  him.  Then 
the  boy  Joseph  asked  which  of  all  the  churches  was 
right,  and  wanted  to  know  which  he  should  join. 

The  angel  told  him  to  join  none  of  them.  Their 
creeds  (the  ways  they  believed)  were  wrong.  The 


g  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1823 

angel  said  many  other  things  to  this  young  boy,  then 
went  away. 

A  few  days  after  this,  Joseph  told  a  minister  of 
one  of  the  churches  about  the  vision,  but  the  minister 
Joseph  Smith  did  not  believe  him  and  said  that  it  came 
tells  of  seeing  from  the  Devil.  He  said  angels  did 

a  vision. 

come  to  the  earth  a  long  time  ago,  but 
they  would  not  do  so  any  more.  The  other  people 
joined  with  the  minister  and  made  it  a  matter  of  fun. 
They  even  persecuted  this  boy  of  fourteen  because  he 
told  them  he  had  seen  a  vision.  But  Joseph  would 
not  join  any  of  the  churches.  For  nearly  three  years 
he  kept  at  his  work.  He  often  prayed  the  Lord  to 
keep  him  from  doing  wrong.  On  the  twenty-first  day 
of  September,  1823,  after  he  had  retired  to  his  bed, 
he  began  to  pray,  and  what  happened  to  him  at  that 
time  he  tells  in  the  following  words: 

"While  I  was  thus  in  the  act  of  calling  upon  God 
I  discovered  a  light  appearing  in  the  room,  which 
continued  to  increase  until  the  room  was  lighter  than 
at  noonday,  when  immediately  a  personage  appeared 
at  my  bedside  standing  in  the  air,  for  his  feet  did  not 
touch  the  floor.  He  had  on  a  loose  robe  of  most  ex- 
quisite whiteness.  It  was  a  whiteness  beyond  any- 
thing earthly  I  had  ever  seen;  nor  do  I  believe  that 
any  earthly  thing  could  be  made  to  appear  so  exceed- 
ingly white  and  brilliant;  his  hands  were  naked,  and 
his  arms  also  a  little  above  the  wrist.  So  also  were  his 
feet  naked,  as  were  his  legs  a  little  above  the  ankles. 


1823]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  7 

His  head  and  neck  were  also  bare.  I  could  discover 
that  he  had  no  other  clothing  on  but  this  robe,  as  it  was 
open  so  that  I  could  see  into  his  bosom.  Not  only  was 
his  robe  exceedingly  white,  but  his  whole  person  was 
glorious  beyond  description,  and  his  countenance  truly 
like  lightning.  The  room  was  exceedingly  light,  but 
not  so  very  bright  as  immediately  around  his  person. 
When  I  first  looked  upon  him  I  was  afraid,  but  the 
fear  soon  left  me.  He  called  me  by  name,  and  said 
unto  me  that  he  was  a  messenger  sent  from  the  pres- 
ence of  God  to  me.  .  .  .  That  God  had  a  work  for  me 
to  do,  and  that  my  name  should  be 
had  for  good  and  evil,  among  all  na- 
tions,  kindreds,  and  tongues;  or  that  it 
should  be  both  good  and  evil  spoken  of  among  all 
people.  He  said  there  was  a  book  deposited,  written 
upon  gold  plates,  giving  an  account  of  the  former 
inhabitants  of  this  continent,  and  the  source  from 
whence  they  sprang.  He  also  said  that  the  fullness 
of  the  everlasting  gospel  was  contained  in  it,  as  deliv- 
ered by  the  Savior  to  the  ancient  inhabitants.  Also 
that  there  were  two  stones  in  silver 
bows,  and  these  stones  fastened  to  a  aSt* ***  by 
breastplate  constituted  what  is  called 
the  Urim  and  Thummim,  deposited  with  the  plates, 
and  the  possession  and  use  of  these  stones  was  what 
constituted  seers  in  ancient  or  former  times,  and  that 
God  had  prepared  them  for  the  purpose  of  translat- 
ing the  book." 


g       -  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1823 

The  angel  told  him  many  other  things,  saying  that 
when  he  got  the  plates  he  should  show  them  to  no  one 
except  those  to  whom  he  was  commanded  to  show 
them.  Then  Joseph  saw  in  vision  the  place  where  the 
plates  were  hidden,  and  it  was  so  plain  that  he  knew 
the  place  when  he  did  afterward  visit  it.  Then  he  tells 
us  in  his  story  of  the  vision: 

"I  saw  the  light  in  the  room  begin  to  gather  imme- 
diately around  the  person  of  him  who  had  been  speak- 
ing to  me,  and  it  continued  to  do  so  until  the  room 
was  again  left  dark  except  just  around  him,  when 
instantly  I  saw  as  it  were  a  conduit  open  right  up  into 
heaven,  and  he  ascended  up  till  he  entirely  disap- 
peared and  the  room  was  left  as  it  had  been  before 
this  heavenly  light  had  made  its  appearance." 


1823J 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


Home  of  Joseph  Smith's  father,  near 
Manchester. 


CHAPTER  2. 

The  Hill  Where  the  Wonderful  Things  Were  Hidden. 

THREE  TIMES  that 
night  in  September  the 
angel  told  Joseph  these 
things,  and,  besides, 
gave  him  a  warning. 
His  people  were  poor, 
but  the  gold  plates 
would  be  very  valuable. 
The  angel  told  Joseph 
he  must  not  try  to  get 

rich  with  these  things,  but  he  should  use  them  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  making  of  people  better.  It 
was  nearly  morning  when  the  angel  went  away  the 
third  time.  Joseph  arose  and  went  into  the  field  with 
his  fathers  and  brothers.  He  did  not  seem  to  feel  so 
strong  as  usual  and  his  father  sent  him  to  the  house. 
He  stopped  on  the  way,  and  while  lying  on  the  ground 
he  heard  some  one  calling  his  name.  He  looked  up 
and  saw  the  same  messenger,  surrounded  by  light  as 
before.  The  angel  told  him  all  the  things  he  had  told 
him  the  night  before,  in  just  the  same  way.  Then  he 
commanded  him  to  go  tell  his  father  of  the  visions, 
and  all  of  the  story. 

Joseph  went  back  to  the  field  and  told  his  father 
everything    that    had    happened.      The    father    was 


IQ  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [182S 

named  Joseph  Smith,  too.    He  was  a  kind  and  intel- 
ligent man.    He  had  not  joined  any  of  the  churches, 
but  he  was  a  good  man.     He  listened  to  the  boy's 
story.    Then  he  said  that  he  believed  it  was  from  God, 
and  told  Joseph  to  go  do  as  he  had  been  commanded. 
Joseph  left  the  field  and  went  to  the  place  where 
the  angel  had  told  him  the  plates  were  hidden.     He 
knew  the  place  as  soon  as  he  saw  it, 

Place  where 

the  plates  because  the  vision  had  been  very  plain, 

and  it  was  only  two  and  one  half  miles 
from  his  home.  The  country  was  a  land  of  many  beau- 
tiful hills,  and  was  very  much  admired  by  travelers; 


The  hill  called  Cumorah. 

so  the  angel  must  tell  it  very  plainly;  but  he  had  an 
advantage,  for  this  hill  is  very  peculiar  in  its  shape. 
It  was  the  highest  of  the  hills  near  to  the  village  of 
Manchester,  Ontario  County,  New  York.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  hill,  near  to  the  top,  under  a  stone,  lay 
the  plates  in  a  stone  box.  The  middle  of  the  stone 


1825]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  -Q 

covering  the  box  was  above  the  ground,  but  the  edges 
were  under  the  soil.  Joseph  removed  the  soil  from 
the  edge  of  the  stone,  and  with  a  lever 
lifted  the  stone  and  looked  into  the  box.  tThhee  ^^hoL" 
There  were  the  things  just  as  the  angel 
had  told  him.  They  were  in  a  box  made  of  stones 
fastened  together  with  cement.  He  was  told  by  the 
angel  that  he  could  not  take  the  things  out  of  the  box. 
It  was  not  time  for  them  to  be  brought  out.  They 
must  remain  there  for  four  years  more.  The  angel 
said  he  would  meet  him  there  in  September  every  year 
until  the  time  came,  and  as  the  years  went  by,  and  the 
Septembers  came  with  their  sunny  days  and  cool,  still 
nights,  Joseph  met  the  angel  as  commanded,  and  was 
taught  many  things. 

In  October,  1825,  Joseph  went  to  work  for  a  man 
named  Stoal,  who  lived  in  Chenango  County,  New 
York.  This  man  was  trying  to  find  an  old  silver  mine 
that  he  had  heard  about.  He  hired  men  to  dig  for 
the  silver  mine.  But  the  old  man  finally  gave  up  the 
search.  This  was  the  only  time  Joseph  Smith  ever 
dug  for  silver  or  gold.  But  while  working  for  Mr. 
Stoal  he  discovered  something  of  far  greater  worth; 
he  found  the  lady  whom  he  afterward  married. 

He  found  a  boarding  place  at  the  home  of  Isaac 
Hale  and  fell  in  love  with  his  daughter  Emma,  a  dark- 
eyed,  dark-haired,  tall,  young  lady.  They  were  mar- 
ried at  the  home  of  Squire  Tarbell,  in  South  Bain- 
bridge,  Chenango  County,  New  York,  now  called 


.«i  NO  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1827 


ivhrrr  .Jo  .rpli  Smilli  :m<\    I 
Half;  wrrr  rnnriH  -I 


It  wa»  on  January  18,  1827.    Kmma 
fatfier  was  an  intelligent,  well-to-do  farmer.    He  had 

he;ird    ;i.hout    Joseph    Smith    seeing   ;i    vision,   ;ind    did 

not  want  his  daughter 
to  marry  the  young 
m;in.  After  they  were 
married,  they  went  to 
I  i  v  e  with  Joseph's 
Hither  ;md  mother, 
;md  were  hoth  made 
\\eleoMie  there.  In 
Septemher  of  the  same 
year  thai  he  w;is  mar 
ried,  Joseph  w  e  n  I 

again  to  the  hill  to  meet  the  messenger.  This  time  the 
messen;"  r  ".r.e  to  Joseph  the  things  that  were  in  the 
stone  hox.  There  \\erc  the  plates,  the  Urim  and 
Thummim,  and  the  ancient  hreastplate. 

It  was  the  twenty  seeond  day  of  September,  18*27. 
Joseph  was  to  keep  them,  and  if  he  used  all  his  efforts 
to  preserve  them  until  the  messenger  should  call  for 
I  In- in,  they  would  he  protected.  Just  so  soon  as  peo 
pie  learned  that  Joseph  had  the  plates,  there  was  an 
effort  ma.de  to  gel  them  away  from  him,  for  they  were 
worth  a  great  deal  of  money.  Hut  Joseph  kept  them. 
in  spite  of  the  multitudes  who  work* -d  to  get  them 
away  from  him.  When  his  work  was  done  with  these 
things,  the  rncs  Ned  for  them  and  Joseph  d< 

livered  them  up  to  him. 


lSx>7]  YOUNG  PEOPLED  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  8. 

the  Learned  Men  and  the  Writing  on  the  Plates. 

PEOPLE  told  many  false  stories  about  Joseph  Smith 
and  his  father  and  family,  llu  y  persecuted  him  and 
gave  him  no  peace,  so  he  with  his  wife  moved  to  Sus- 
quehanna  Comity,  Pennsylvania.  He  had  been  liv- 
ing only  a  few  miles  from  the  hill  where  he  found  the 
plates:  now  he  was  farther  away.  He 
carried  the  wonderful  things  \\  th  him. 
The  plates  were  thin  pieces  of  gold, 
about  eight  inches  long  and  six  inches  wide.  They 
were  thin  as  tin.  so  thin  that  they  made  a  sort  of  rust- 
ling somul  when  handled.  About  one  third  of  the 
leaves  were  fastened  with  rings  on  both  sides,  so  tight 
they  could  not  he  read. 
These  were  called  the 
sealed  part.  Hut  the 
two  thirds  was  open  as 
a  book,  and  full  of  very 
beautiful,  delicate  writ- 
ing. They  were  fas- 
tened together  by  braSS'4  Near  Manchester,  New  York. 

rings  through  small  holes  in  the  plates,  something 
after,  the  manner  of  loose-leaved  ledgers.  The  plates 
were  covered  with  writing  in  a  language  that  Joseph 
Smith  did  not  know,  and  he  could  not  show  them  to 
anyone  unless  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  do  so. 


14  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1827 

Just  as  he  was  about  to  leave  Manchester,  a  re- 
spectable farmer,  named  Martin  Harris,  came  to  him 
and  gave  him  fifty  dollars  to  assist  him.  He  wanted 
to  take  it  as  a  loan,  but  Mr.  Harris  insisted  on  giving 
it.  This  gave  him  more  time,  and  so  soon  as  he 
reached  his  new  home  in  Pennsylvania,  he  commenced 
to  write  the  story  as  it  was  on  the  plates,  off  onto 

paper.  He  found  now  the  use  of  the 
Thummim.  Urim  and  Thummim.  They  were 

something  like  spectacles,  being  clear 
stones  set  in  bows.  The  writing  was  done  at  the  house 
of  his  wife's  father,  sometime  between  December, 
1827,  and  February,  1828,  after  he  arrived  there.  In 
February  Mr.  Harris  went  to  Mr.  Smith  and  got  the 
copy  of  some  of  the  old  language  that  Joseph  had 
drawn  off  the  plates,  and  took  it  to  New  York  City. 
Martin  Harris  tells  us  that  he  showed  the  copy  and 
the  words  that  Joseph  had  translated  from  the  same 
plates  to  a  man  who  knew  many  languages,  who  said 
the  translation,  or  writing  in  English,  was  true;  he 
Martin  Harris  l°°ked  at  the  copy  of  the  old  languages 

which  was  not  translated,  and  said  they 
were  true  characters  or  writings  of  the  Egyptian, 
Chaldaic,  Assyriac,  and  Arabic.  He  wrote  out  a  cer- 
tificate saying  they  were  true.  But  when  he  found 
out  that  an  angel  had  told  a  young  man  where  to  find 
these  writings,  he  tore  up  the  certificate  and  said  there 
were  no  such  things  as  angels  coming  to  men  now. 
Then  Mr.  Harris  went  to  another  learned  man,  Doc- 


3 


Ar 
>* 


Nf 


* 


ft 


CN 


-TO 


r 


^g  3^ 

*  - 1* 


^, 


-xj 
^vo 


T 


-j- 


\£'  ~ 


N 


co 


•ffS 

I  W 

vx  O 

s  < 

^        o 


• 


16  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1828 

tor  Mitchill.  He  agreed  with  Mr.  Anthon  about  the 
writing  and  the  translation. 

Martin  Harris  went  back  home.  He  arranged  busi- 
ness affairs,  then  went  to  Harmony,  Pennsylvania, 
and  began  writing  for  Joseph.  He  commenced  to 
write  sometime  in  April,  1828,  and  by  June  12,  1828, 
he  had  written  one  hundred  and  sixteen  pages  of  fools- 
cap paper,  Joseph  looking  through  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  and  telling  him  what  he  saw. 

No  one  had  yet  seen  the  plates  and  other  things  ex- 
cepting Joseph.  His  mother,  in  her  history  of  Joseph, 
tells  that  she  had  seen  the  breastplate  and  Urim  and 
Thummim.  The  plates  were  kept  covered  when  not 
being  used  by  Joseph.  His  wife  sometimes  moved 
them  about  from  place  to  place,  as  she  needed  to  do 
in  her  housework,  but  they  were  covered  by  a  cloth. 
She  never  saw  them. 


1828]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  4. 

The  Lost  Manuscript. 

WHEN  MARTIN  HARRIS  had  written  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  pages,  he  prepared  to  go  home.  He 
wanted  to  take  the  writing  along  and  show  it  to  his 
family  and  friends.  He  begged  so  hard  that  he  was 
finally  told  to  take  it  and  show  it  only  to  certain  ones. 
He  promised  very  solemnly  to  keep  his  word,  but 
when  he  got  among  his  friends  he  broke  his  word  and 
showed  it  to  others.  It  was  taken  away  from  him  in 
some  unknown  way,  and  it  has  never 


been  heard  from  to  this  day.    This  made 


a  time  of  trouble  both  for  Joseph  and  his 
family  and  for  Mr.  Harris.     Joseph  did  not  know 
what  to  do.    He  found  that  he  could  no  longer  read 
with  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  and  the  plates  were 
taken  away. 

His  wife  had  been  very  sick,  and  was  still  very 
weak,  and  he  was  afraid  to  tell  her,  for  it  would  make 
her  worse.  Finally  she  grew  so  much  better  that  he 
left  her  with  her  mother,  while  he  went  to  find  Mr. 
Harris.  He  found  him  sorry  indeed.  He  walked 
with  slow  steps  and  his  eyes  looking  down.  He  was 
an  honest  man,  about  forty-four  years  old,  and  had 
enough  land  and  money  to  be  very  comfortable.  But 
no  money  could  bring  back  the  wonderful  story  that 


18 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


[1828 


was  written  on  the  one  hundred  and  sixteen  pages  of 
paper  that  he  had  been  so  careless  about. 

Joseph  prayed  often  and  was  nearly  ill.    One  day 

the  Lord  told  him  not  to 
write  that  part  of  those 
plates  again,  but  he  would 
finish  the  same  story  from 
other  plates  until  he  came 
to  that  place  in  these 
plates;  he  would  give  to 
him  the  gift  again,  for 
power  to  see  the  words 
through  these  queer 
stones  was  a  gift  from 
God.  The  power  was  not 
alone  in  the  glasses  nor  in 
the  man  who  looked  in 
Martin  Harris.  them,.but  when  the  right 

man  looked  through  them 

in  the  right  way,  with  faith  in  God,  then  God  gave 
the  words.  In  the  Bible  we  read  of  the  Urim  and 
Thummim,  used  by  God's  people  thousands  of  years 
ago  in  another  land  far  over  the  ocean. 
When  Joseph  received  the  things 
again,  he  was  told  that  these  things 
were  sacred  and  that  he  must  not  fear  to  do  right  even 
if  men  did  not  like  it.  He  must  do  the  things  he  had 
been  commanded  to  do,  or  he  could  have  the  gift  no 
more.  He  was  told  to  be  diligent,  but  not  try  to  go 


1829]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  ^g 

too  fast.  After  this  trouble,  Joseph  did  not  go  to 
translating  for  some  time.  He  worked  on  a  farm  he 
had  bought  of.  his  wife's  father.  One  day  in  Febru- 
ary of  the  next  year  ( 1829)  his  own  father  and  mother 
came  to  visit  him.  They  were  anxious  that  he  should 
do  the  things  the  angel  had  commanded  him  to  do. 
But  Joseph,  like  other  young  men,  was  spending  his 
time  earning  money  to  buy  stock  and  tools  and  fur- 
niture for  his  farm  and  home. 

The   next    month,    March,    1829,    Martin    Harris 
begged  Joseph  to  ask  the  Lord  to  let  him,  Martin 
Harris,  know  that  Joseph 
Smith  had  these  plates  or 
records,  for  he  had  not  seen 
them,  nor  had  anyone  but 
Joseph.      The    Lord   told 
Joseph  that  he  would  show 
the  plates  and  other  things 
to  three  witnesses  besides 

rm  ,1  Farm  of  Martin  Harris. 

Joseph.  Ihree  other  peo- 
ple he  (an  angel)  would  show  the  plates  to.  The  Lord 
promised  to  declare  it  to  these  three  from  heaven,  so 
they  would  surely  know.  He  would  give  three  people, 
and  only  three  besides  Joseph,  power  to  behold  and 
view  the  wonderful  things  as  they  were,  and  these 
three  were  to  tell  about  it  as  long  as  they  lived. 

They  were  to  say,  "I  have  seen  them;  they  have 


^Q  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1829 

been  shown  unto  me  by  the  power  of  God."  But 
the  Lord  said  that  Martin  Harris  was  not  humble 
enough  yet  to  see  these  things. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


21 


CHAPTER  5. 

Prays  for  a  Scribe. 

JOSEPH  was  told  to  translate  a  few  more  pages,  then 
stop  for  a  while.  Sometimes  Joseph's  wife  wrote  for 
him,  but  her  household  cares  took  much  of  her  time. 
Joseph  prayed  the  Lord  to  send  him  a  scribe,  some 

one  to  write  for  him 
and  do  nothing  else, 
and  he  was  promised  a 
scribe  in  a  little  while. 
In  the  following 
month,  after  the 
things  we  have  written 
occurred,  there  came 
to  help  Joseph  a  man 
near  his  own  age, 
whose  life  and  works 
make  the  history  of 
the  church  more  beau- 
tiful and  interesting 
than  it  could 

X 

have  been  with- 
out him.  This 

young  man's  name,  we  learn,  was  Oliver  Cowdery. 
In  the  winter  of  1828  and  1829,  Oliver  Cowdery 

taught  school  in  the  town  of  Manchester,  New  York. 

He  was  then  twenty-two  years  old.    While  here,  he 


22  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

boarded  with  Joseph  Smith's  father.  A  strong  feel- 
ing of  love  grew  up  between  himself  and  this  family. 
He  called  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  "father"  and  "mother" 
in  an  affectionate  way,  and  he  became  a  great  favorite 
in  the  family.  He  heard  about  their  son  Joseph,  of 

course,  and  the  wonderful  story  of  the 
dery?r  angel  and  the  plates  was  told  to  him.  He 

became  greatly  interested,  and  prayed 
about  it  with  much  earnestness.  He  told  Father  Smith 
that  he  felt  he  should  some  day  write  for  Joseph.  This 
feeling  stayed  with  Oliver.  He  said  "it  worked  in  his 
bones."  He  could  not  get  away  from  the  feeling. 
He  resolved  to  go  down  to  Pennsylvania,  where  Jos- 
eph lived,  so  soon  as  his  "school  closed.  He  declared  if 
the  Lord  had  a  work  for  him  to  do  he  was  firmly  de- 
termined to  do  it. 

When  April  came,  the  roads  were  almost  impass- 
able. There  had  been  such  rainy,  freezing  weather  that 
the  trip  seemed  next  to  impossible.  Oliver  was  deter- 
mined to  go,  so  he  started  with  Joseph's  younger 
brother,  Samuel,  and  arrived  at  Joseph's  home  on 
Sunday,  April  5,  1829.  They  talked  together  until 
late.  They  were  both  young  men,  and  although  they 
had  never  met,  they  entered  at  once  into  a  bond  of 
friendship.  Joseph  had  not  learned  much  from  books, 
nor  had  he  been  in  school  very  much.  He  had  spent 
most  of  his  time  when  well  at  outdoor  work. 

Oliver  was  a  great  reader  and  had  had  good  school- 
ing, and  fortunately  was  a  fine  writer.  On  Tuesday, 


1829]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  23 

April  7,  1829,  he  began  to  write  for  Joseph.     Oliver 
enjoyed  this  task;  he  tells  us,  "These  were  days  never 
to  be  forgotten.  ...  Day  after  day  I     Oliver  Cow- 
continued  uninterrupted,  to  write  from     der?  is  J.?s" 

eph  s  scribe. 

his  mouth  as  he    translated    with    the 
Urim  and  Thummim,  (or  as  the  Nephites  would  have 
said,    'Interpreters,')    the    history    or    record    called 
'The  Book  of  Mormon.'  " 

Joseph  and  Oliver  did  not  always  agree,  but  they 
differed  pleasantly.  Joseph  received  three  revelations 
during  this  time.  On  May  15,  1829,  they  were  in 
the  woods,  praying  the  Lord  to  let  them  know  about 
baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins,  for  they  found  it 
mentioned  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  plates.  While 
they  prayed,  an  angel  came 
down  to  them  in  a  cloud  of 
light  and  laid  his  hands  on 
them  and  ordained  them  to 
the  Aaronic  priesthood. 
(This  is  that  part  of  the 

priesthood      that      may      do     On  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna. 

much  of  the  work  of  the 

church,  but  not  all  those  things  requiring  laying 
on  of  hands.)  He  told  them  to  go  baptize  each 
other,  Joseph  baptizing  Oliver,  then  Oliver  baptizing 
Joseph.  They  were  commanded  to  ordain  each  other. 
This  one  thing  only  they  could  now  do  by  laying  on 
of  .hands, — ordain  men  to  the  same  priesthood  or 


24  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1829 

power  that  they  had.  This  angel  told  them  that  he 
was  John — "the  same  that  is  called  John  the  Baptist 
in  the  New  Testament."  He  was  directed  by  Peter, 
James,  and  John.  These  three  held  the  power  of  the 
higher  priesthood,  the  one  that  could  lay  on  hands  for 
the  reception  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  etc. 

Oliver  Cowdery  writes  that  the  voice  of  the  angel 

"dispelled  every  fear.     We  listened — we  gazed — we 

admired!    'Twas  the  voice  of  the  angel 

angei.ned  by  from  glorY — 'twas  a  message  from  the 
Most  High!  and  as  we  heard  we  re- 
joiced." Here  were  these  two  young  men  blessed  in 
the  open  daytime,  by  an  angel  who  had  been  a  young 
man  when  he  finished  his  work  on  earth.  This  hap- 
pened in  the  woods  on  a  May  morning. 

Soon  after  this  Oliver  Cowdery  baptized  Samuel 
Smith.  The  Lord  told  Hyrum,  Joseph's  older 
brother,  that  it  was  his  work  to  "declare"  God's  word, 
but  first  seek  to  obtain  God's  word.  He  should  study 
both  the  Bible  and  the  words  that  were  then  being 
translated. 

This  introduces  to  the  reader  Hyrum  Smith,  a  man 
whose  love  was  great  indeed.  A  quiet,  peaceable,  gen- 
tle man,  and  through  the  final  years  of  the  work  of 
Joseph  Smith  we  find  close  beside  him  to  counsel  and 
help  him,  this  older  brother,  Hyrum ;  always  near,  and 
always  dear  to  the  impulsive,  frank-spoken  young 
Prophet. 

While  the  work  of  translating  was  going  on,  there 


1829]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  25 

was  no  one  to  earn  money  to  buy  food  and  necessary 
things  in  the  home  of  Joseph  Smith.  This  was  a  trial 
to  a  young,  energetic  couple,  people  who  were  used 
to  the  active  and  constant  labor  of  their  hands.  The 
Lord  seemed  to  be  providing  for  them  joseph  Knight 
while  they  did  this  work.  About  thirty  brings 

J  .     J       provisions. 

miles  from  Harmony,  at  Colesville, 
New  York,  there  lived  a  man  named  Joseph  Knight, 
senior.  He  heard  of  these  young  men  at  Harmony, 
writing  by  the  power  of  God,  the  story  that  was  on 
the  golden  plates,  in  the  strange  language.  Several 
times  he  came  that  long  way  with  provisions  for  these 
young  people. 


26  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1829 


CHAPTER  6. 

The  Whitmers. 

AND  NOW  we  introduce  one  of  the  most  important 
names  in  the  history  of  the  church — the  name  Whit- 
mer.  Across  the  Pennsylvania  line,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  in  a  picturesque  and  healthful  location 
near  the  village  of  Fayette,  lived  a  man  named  Whit- 
mer,  with  his  wife  arid  family  of  children.  Some  of 
the  people  about  were  German.  The  children  were 
nearly  grown,  and  others  were  young  men  and  women. 
One,  a  son  named  David,  a  young  man,  was  born 
January  7,  1805,  the  same  year  that  Joseph  Smith 
was  born.  None  of  these  people  had  met  Joseph 
Smith.  The  only  acquaintance  they  had  was  that 
made  by  Joseph  Smith,  senior,  and  his  wife,  Lucy. 
When  traveling  to  Manchester  to  visit  Joseph  and 
Emma  they  had  stopped  over  night  at  the  Whitmer 
home  and  talked  with  David  about  their  son  Joseph, 
and  Oliver  Cowdery  had  written  to  David  in  answer 
to  David's  letters  to  him  about  Joseph  Smith  and 
the  plates  and  the  wonderful  story  they  had  on  them. 

The  meeting  of  Joseph  Smith  and  the  Whitmer 
family  came  about  in  this  way.  Joseph  and  Oliver 
were  translating  in  the  little  house  in  Harmony  in  the 
early  summer.  Samuel  had  returned  to  his  father's 
home.  When  Joseph  looked  through  the.Urim  and 
Thummim,  instead  of  seeing  the  words  of  the  book 


1829]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  27 

there,  he  read  a  commandment  to  write  a  letter  to  a 
man  named  David  Whitmer,  who  lived  in  Waterloo, 
asking  him  to  come  immediately  with  his  wagon  and 
horses  and  take  Joseph  and  Oliver  to  his  home.  The 
words  that  he  read  told  him  that  the  work  of  the  Lord 
was  about  to  be  stopped  by  wicked  people,  and  they 
would  try  to  kill  Joseph,  too.  Joseph  read  it  to 
Oliver,  and  he  wrote  the  letter  and  sent  it  to  the  young 
man  named  David,  for  he  knew  this  young  man  to  be 
good  and  pure,  and  had  written  him  before  as  a  friend. 
David  showed  the  letter  to  his  father's  family  and 
asked  them  what  they  thought  about  it.  David  Whit- 
He  had  his  farm  work  waiting  and  he  ™er  \oes  after 

Joseph. 

could  not  leave  some  of  it  until  it  was 
done.  He  concluded  that  if  he  did  it  quicker  than  it 
was  ever  done  before,  he  would  go.  It  was  finished 
so  quickly  he  was  amazed,  and  could  not  tell  how  some 
of  it  was  done,  or  by  whom;  and  the  family  could 
not  tell.  But  David  went  with  his  team  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Harmony  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles 
from  Waterloo,  but  it  took  but  two  days  for  David 
to  drive  it.  The  Lord  told  Joseph  to  give  the  plates 
to  an  angel,  and  when  they  got  to  Whitmer 's  the 
angel  would  meet  him  in  the  garden  and  give  them 
to  him  again.  So  Joseph  and  Oliver  set  out  with 
David  for  the  new  place  of  work  in  New  York.  David 
Whitmer,  when  he  was  an  old  man,  remembered  this 


28 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


trip,  and  is  said  to  have  told  this  little  story  of  what 
occurred  on  the  way: 

"When  I  was  returning  to  Fayette,  with  Joseph 
and  Oliver,  all  of  us  riding  in  the  wagon,  Oliver  and 

I  on  an  old  -  fashioned 
wooden  spring  seat  and 
Joseph  behind  us — when 
traveling  along  in  a  clear, 
open  place,  a  very  pleas- 
ant, nice-looking  old  man 
suddenly  appeared  by  the 
side  of  our  wagon  and 
saluted  us  with,  'Good 
morning,  it  is  very  warm/ 
at  the  same  time  wiping 
his  face  or  forehead  with 
his  hand.  We  returned 
the  salutation,  and,  by  a 
sign  from  Joseph,  I  in- 
vited him  to  ride  if  he  was 

going  our  way.  But  he  said  very  pleasantly,  'No,  I 
am  going  to  Cumorah.'  This  name  was  something 
new  to  me;  I  did  not  know  what  Cumorah  meant. 
We  all  gazed  at  him  and  at  each  other,  and  as  I  looked 
around  inquiringly  of  Joseph,  the  old  man  instantly 
disappeared,  so  that  I  did  not  see  him  again." 

Emma  Smith  stayed  at  the  little  home  in  Harmony, 
near  her  own  father,  to  look  after  some  business  mat- 
ters. Afterward  we  find  her  at  the  Whitmer  home. 


David  Whitmer. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


29 


The  next  day  after  the  arrival  of  Joseph  and  Oliver 
at  the  home  of  David  Whitmer,  they  again  translated 
by  means  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim.  It  was  June 
and  they  worked  in  an  upper  room  of  Translating  at 
the  Whitmer  house,  John  and  Chris-  the  Whitmer 

house. 

tian  Whitmer  assisting  at  times  to  re- 
lieve Oliver.    They  would  sometimes  stop  writing  and 
talk  of  the  wonderful  things  in  the  book.    Their  eyes 
would  wander  out  over  the  beautiful  hills  and  catch 


The  beautiful  lake  region  near  Seneca  Lake. 
Palmyra,  New  York. 


here  and  there  a  glimmer  of  the  waters  of  a  lake,  glis- 
tening in  the  sun;  for  they  were  in  that  beautiful  lake 
region  near  Seneca  Lake.  Beautiful  Seneca  Lake, 
of  Indian  fame,  and  soon  to  be  blessed  above  many 
waters!  for  some  of  the  first  baptisms  of  the  church 
were  in  this  wonderful  lake  with  an  Indian  name. 


3Q  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1829 

Peter  Whitmer,  the  father  of  the  family,  asked 
nothing  for  boarding  the  men,  and  helped  them  in 
other  ways,  wishing  to  help  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

They  found  a  warm  friend  in  Peter  Whitmer, 
j  unior. 


1829]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  7. 

The  Witnesses  and  Their  Story. 

WHILE  still  working  at  the  translation,  there  was 
another  wonderful  thing  happened.  The  Lord  had  told 
Joseph  that  he  was  not  to  be  the  only  one  to  see  these 
plates  and  the  breastplate.  Three  others  were  to  be 
shown  all  these  wonderful  things.  Joseph  was  glad 
indeed.  He  had  felt  the  need  of  some  one  else  in  this 
strange  secret.  Oliver  Cowdery,  David  Whitmer,  and 
Martin  Harris  wanted  to  be  the  three  people.  They 
persuaded  Joseph  to  ask  the  Lord  about  it.  The  Lord 
told  them  through  the  Urim  and  Thummim  that  they 
should  have  a  view  of  the  plates,  and  also  the  breast- 
plate, the  sword  of  Laban,  the  Urim  and  Thummim 
which  was  given  to  the  brother  of  Jared  Things  prom- 
upon  the  mount  when  he  talked  with  the  is^  the  three 

witnesses. 
Lord,  face  to  face,  and  the  miraculous 

directors  which  were  given  to  Lehi  in  the  wilderness, 
on  the  borders  of  the  Red  Sea.  "And  ye  shall  testify 
that  you  have  seen  them,  even  as  my  servant  Joseph 
Smith,  jr.,  has  seen  them,  for  it  is  by  my  power  that 
he  has  seen  them,  and  it  is  because  he  had  faith."  This 
and  many  other  things  the  Lord  told  them. 

Not  many  days  after  they  received  this  command- 
ment, Martin  Harris,  Oliver  Cowdery,  David  Whit- 
mer, and  Joseph  Smith  were  out  in  the  woods  talking 
of  these  things  and  praying  earnestly  for  the  Lord  to 


32  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1829 

show  them  the  plates.  Joseph  prayed  aloud  first,  then 
each  of  the  others.  They  repeated  their  prayer  the 
second  time.  Martin  Harris  thought  he  was  not  good 
enough,  and  if  he  would  go  away  the  rest  might  get 
to  see  the  plates.  He  went  away  and  left  them.  They 
knelt  and  prayed  again,  and  soon  there  was  the  light 
above  them.  It  was  not  like  any  light  they  had  seen. 
It  was  very  bright.  An  angel  stood  in  the  midst  of  it 
and  turned  the  plates  as  if  they  were  the  leaves  of  a 
book,  and  they  could  see  the  writing  on  them  very 
plainly. 

David  Whitmer  relates  in  his  old  age  that  wonder- 
ful scene  in  the  woods  in  New  York.  To  him  the  angel 
spoke  directly:  "David,  blessed  art  the  Lord,  and  he 
that  keeps  his  commandments."  It  was  near  the  mid- 
dle of  a  bright  June  day  in  1829.  He  tells  that  a  table 
appeared  in  the  light  that  shone  brightly  and  ex- 
tended away  around  them,  and  on  the  table  were  many 
plates,  or  books  with  metal  leaves,  but  the  angel  held 
The  vision  to  the  book  they  were  translating  and 

the  three  wit-  turned  the  leaves.  They  were  quite 
nesses. 

close  to  the  table.  On  it,  beside  these 
plates,  were  the  other  things  mentioned.  He  says  he 
heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  saying:  "These  plates  have 
been  revealed  by  the  power  of  God,  and  they  have 
been  translated  by  the  power  of  God ;  the  translating 
of  them  which  you  have  seen  is  correct,  and  I  command 
you  to  bear  record  of  what  you  now  see  and  hear." 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  33 

The  vision  went  away  then,  and  Joseph*  Oliver,  and 
David  were  alone. 

Joseph  Smith  left  Oliver  and  David  and  found 
Martin  Harris  in  deep  prayer.  He  prayed  with  him, 
and  soon  they  saw  the  same  angel  and  the  plates,  and 
heard  the  same  words.  It  was  between  three  and 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  they  went  back  to 
the  house  and  told  the  people  there  all  that  had  hap- 
pened. Joseph  Smith's  father  and  mother  were  visit- 
ing at  Peter  Whitmer's  at  the  time.  It  was  the  work 
of  these  men  to  tell  these  things  to  the  world.  They 
prepared  their  story  of  it,  writing  it  carefully,  and 
called  it  the  "Testimony  of  Three  Witnesses."1  (From 
Church  History,  vol.  1,  p.  47.) 

^HE    TESTIMONY    OF    THREE    WITNESSES. 

Be  it  known  unto  all  nations,  kindreds,  tongues,  and  people,  unto 
whom  this  work  shall  come,  that  we,  through  the  grace  of  God  the 
Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  have  seen  the  plates  which  contain 
this  record,  which  is  a  record  of  the  people  of  Nephi,  and  also  of  the 
Lamanites,  their  brethren,  and  also  of  the  people  of  Jared,  who  came 
from  the  tower  of  which  hath  been  spoken;  and  we  also  know  that  they 
have  been  translated  by  the  gift  and  power  of  God,  for  his  voice  hath 
declared  it  unto  us;  wherefore  we  know  of  a  surety,  that  the  work  is  true. 
And  we  also  testify  that  we  have  seen  the  engravings  which  are  upon  the 
plates;  and  they  have  been  shown  unto  us  by  the  power  of  God,  and  not 
of  man.  And  we  declare  with  words  of  soberness,  that  an  angel  of  God 
came  down  from  heaven,  and  he  brought  and  laid  before  our  eyes,  that 
we  beheld  and  saw  the  plates,  and  the  engravings  thereon;  and  we  know 
that  it  is  by  the  grace  of  God  the  Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  we  beheld  and  bear  record  that  these  things  are  true;  and  it  is 
marvelous  in  our  eyes,  nevertheless,  the  voice  of  the  Lord  commanded 
us  that  we  should  bear  record  of  it;  wherefore,  to  be  obedient  unto  the 
commandments  of  God,  we  bear  testimony  of  these  things.  And  we 
know  that  if  we  are  faithful  in  Christ  we  shall  rid  our  garments  of  the 
blood  of  all  men,  and  be  found  spotless  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ,  and  shall  dwell  with  him  eternally  in  the  heavens.  And  the  honor 
be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  one 
God.  Amen.  OLIVER  COWDERY. 

DAVID  WHITMER. 
MARTIN  HARRIS. 


34  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1829 

They  returned  to  their  writing  and  translating. 
Lucy  Smith's  history  tells  that  Joseph,  Oliver,  and 
the  Whitmers  came  to  Manchester  to  visit  the  Smith 
family  and  to  see  about  getting  the  book  they  were 
translating  printed.  The  men  of  the  company  went 
Eight  wit-  into  tne  woods,  where  they  were  in  the 
kabit  of  meeting  to  pray  and  think  on 
the  work  of  the  Lord.  .It  had  been 
shown  to  Joseph  that  the  plates  would  be  carried  there 
by  an  angel  and  they  were  to  be  shown  the  plates  by 
Joseph  Smith.  Here  there  were  eight  people  per- 
mitted to  look  at  the  plates  they  had  been  writing 
from,  Joseph  Smith  turning  the  leaves  and  showing 
the  writing  in  the  strange  language  to  them.  They 
were  permitted  to  handle  T;he  part  that  Joseph  had 
translated,  and  they  wrote  their  story  and  signed  it, 
and  it  is  called  "The  Testimony  of  Eight  Wit- 
nesses,"2 and  published  in  Times  and  Seasons,  vol- 
ume 3,  pages  898,  899.  These  witnesses  did  not  see 
the  angel  nor  many  other  things  shown  to  the  three 
witnesses. 

2Be  it  known  unto  all  nations,  kindreds,  tongues,  and  people  unto 
whom  this  work  shall  come,  that  Joseph  Smith,  jr.,  the  translator  of  this 
work,  has  shown  unto  us  the  plates  of  which  hath  been  spoken,  which 
have  the  appearance  of  gold ;  and  as  many  of  the  leaves  as  the  said  Smith 
has  translated,  we  did  handle  with  our  hands:  and  we  also  saw  the 
engravings  thereon,  all  of  which  has  the  appearance  of  ancient  work,  and 
of  curious  workmanship.  And  this  we  bear  record  with  words  of  sober- 
ness, that  the  said  Smith  has  shown  unto  us,  for  we  have  seen  and  hefted, 
and  know  of  a  surety,  that  the  said  Smith  has  got  the  plates  of  which 
we  have  spoken.  And  we  give  our  names  unto  the  world  to  witness  unto 
the  world  that  which  we  have  seen;  and  we  lie  not,  God  bearing  witness 
of  it.  CHRISTIAN  WHITMER.  HIRAM  PAGE. 

JACOB   WHITMER.  JOSEPH  SMITH,  SR. 

PETER  WHITMER,  JR.        HYRITM  SMITH. 

JOHN  WHITMER.  SAMUEL  H.  SMITH. 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  35 


CHAPTER  8. 

The  Church  Organized  at  Fayette,  New  York. 

IT  WAS  after  these  things  occurred  that  the  angel 
came  to  Joseph,  and  Joseph  gave  into  his  hands  the 
plates  that  he  had  watched  so  closely  for  so  many 
months.  Joseph  Smith  lived  at  Peter 

*  .  Plates  given 

Whitmer's  in  New  York  until  the  book    back  to  the 
was  all  translated,  and  they  had  secured 
the  copyright  for  it.    He  was  told  to  have  Oliver  Cow- 
dery  make  a  copy  from  the  writings  they  had  trans- 
lated from  the  plates.    One  copy  was  for  the  printers 
to  use,  and  one  to  keep  in  the  event  the  other  one 
be  lost. 

In  the  little  room  at  Father  Whitmer's  there  was 
another  time  of  great  joy.  They  had  been  baptizing 
almost  every  day,  but  they  had  not  power  to  lay  on 
hands  for  the  reception  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  They 
prayed  for  this  blessing.  Joseph  Smith  says  the  word 
of  the  Lord  came  unto  them,  commanding  that  Joseph 
should  ordain  Oliver  to  be  an  elder,  and  Oliver  should 
ordain  Joseph  to  the  same  office,  but  they  were  not  to 
do  this  ordaining  until  they  met  with  the  other  men 
and  found  if  they  wanted  them  to  do  this.  They  were 
commanded  to  bless  bread  and  wine  and  eat  and  drink 
of  it  in  memory  of  Jesus'  blessed  body  and  blood,  with 
these  others  who  had  been  baptized;  then  ordain  each 
other  and  call  out  and  ordain  others  from  among  the 


36  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1830 

brethren.  They  laid  hands  on  those  who  had  been  bap- 
tized, for  God  to  give  them  the  gift  or  blessing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  They,  Oliver  and  David,  were  told  to 
Witnesses  to  "search  out  the  twelve" — men  who  were 
search  out  the  anxious  to  ffo  anywhere  in  the  world 

twelve. 

and  preach  to  the  people  about  Christ 
and  his  work.    But  all  this  must  be  done  without  haste. 

While  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  being  printed, 
many  inquired  about  it.  Some  were  determined  that 
it  should  not  be  printed,  and  there  was  much  trouble 
and  anxiety.  The  church  was  to  be  organized  on  the 
sixth  day  of  April,  1830.  This  had  been  told  to  the 
people.  On  that  day,  Tuesday,  they  met  at  the  home 
of  Mr.  Whitmer,  in  Fayette,  Seneca  County,  New 
York,  and  organized  the  church.  There  were  six 
members  present  at  this  meeting.  It  was  at  this  meet- 
ing that  Oliver  Cowdery  and  Joseph  Smith  ordained 
each  other  after  the  others  had  said  that  they  wanted 
them  to  do  so.  Others  were  ordained  and  confirmed 
and  some  were  baptized.  The  six  members  were  Jos- 
eph Smith,  Oliver  Cowdery,  David  Whitmer,  Hyrum 
Smith,  Samuel  Smith,  and  Peter  Whitmer,  junior. 
Martin  Harris  was  not  yet  a  member. 

Instruction  had  been  given  for  the  different  quo- 
rums and  for  many  rules  and  helps  in  the  church.  It 
was  soon  after  this  that  Martin  Harris  was  baptized, 
along  with  Joseph  Smith's  father  and  mother. 


1830] 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


37 


CHAPTER  9. 

The  Wonderful  Story  Being  Printed. 

THE  STRANGE  writing  on  the  plates  which  had  been 
written  in  our  language  and  was  ready  to  go  to  the 
printer  to  become  a  book,  was  named  the  Book  of 
Mormon.  The  written  story  was  given  to  the  printer 
in  August,  1829.  A  man  named  John  H.  Gilbert  tells 
that  he  set  all  the  type  for  the  book.  In  March,  1830, 
the  strange  story  that  had  been  told  on  the  gold  plates 
was  all  in  ^^ ^ •• m^mmm  a  print- 


ed book, 
could  read 
was  named 
of  M  o  r- 
that  was 
given  by 


A ny one 
it  now.  It 
the  Book 
mon,  for 
the  name 
the  angel. 


It  told  about  the  people  who  lived  in  America  hun- 
dreds of  years  ago ;  about  their  cities  and  towns ;  how 
they  traveled  and  worked;  about  their  priests  and 
kings;  and  how  some  were  wicked  and  some  were 
good;  how  Christ  came  to  them  after  he  was  risen 
from  the  grave,  and  many  other  things. 

People  did  not  know  anything  about  who  had  lived 
in  America  so  long  ago,  and  some  of  them  read  the 
book  and  believed  it.  Then  they  asked  about  who 
found  it  out,  and  that  led  them  to  learn  about  the 


gg  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1830 

story  of  the  angel  and  the  young  man,  and  then  about 
the  gospel  taught  by  the  church.  Some  people  called 
it  a  new  church.  Some  said  it  was  the  church  of  Christ 
brought  back  again,  with  all  the  rules  and  orders  and 
ways  of  doing  that  Christ  had  in  his  church.  Many 
people  joined  the  church. 

The  story  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  is  very  wonder- 
ful. God  kept  it  safe  for  hundreds  of  years.  The  man 
The  story  on  wno  n^  ^  so  carefully  in  the  Hill  Cu- 
the  plates  kept  morah,  many  years  before,  fixed  it  so 
that  fire  nor  water  nor  anything  else 
would  destroy  it;  and  when  Joseph  had  written  the 
things  from  it  that  the  Lord  wanted  written,  the  angel 
took  it  again,  and  who  can  tell  where  it  is  now? 


Palmyra,  New  York. 

The  story  that  was  graven  in  the  gold  of  the  plates 
was  now  printed  and  ready,  and  the  men  of  the  church 
went  to  the  people,  showing  the  book  and  telling  the 
story.  While  many  believed,  many,  many  would  not 
listen,  and  treated  the  ones  who  did  believe  in  a  cruel 
and  wicked  manner. 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  gg 

The  first  Book  of  Mormon  was  printed  in  the  same 
State  where  the  plates  were  given  to  the  young  man, 
in  New  York,  at  the  town  of  Palmyra.  It  was  printed 
by  E.  B.  Grandin.  Its  story  would  seem  to  be  very 
interesting  to  the  Indians,  for  it  told  where  their  peo- 
ple came  from,  and  what  they  did,  and  what  became 
of  many  of  them.  Long  before  the 
I  n  d  i  a  n  s'  great-great-grandfathers 
lived,  these  people  were  called  Laman- 
ites, — so  the  book  told,  and  so  the  Lord  called  them, 
when  talking  to  Joseph  Smith. 

When  the  church  organized,  it  got  men  together 
and  chose  to  do  things  like  Christ's  church  did,  that 
it  might  do  right.  Men  working  all  together  in  some 
chosen  way  can  do  better  than  any  other  way.  These 
men  wanted  to  teach  men  to  be  good  and  how  to  be 
good,  and  get  them  to  get  others  to  help  make  the 
world  better,  so  all  might  know  and  do  Christ's  way. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1830 


CHAPTER  10. 

The  First  Preaching  in  the  Church. 

ON  SUNDAY,  April  11,  1830,  Oliver  Cowdery 
preached  the  first  sermon  that  was  preached  by  an 
elder  of  this  church.  This  sermon  was  preached  at 
Mr.  Whitmer's  house,  in  Fayette.  Large  numbers  of 
people  went  to  hear  him,  and  on  the  same  day  Oliver 
Cowdery  baptized  Hiram  Page  and  a  number  of  oth- 
ers in  Seneca  Lake. 

In  the  same  month,  Joseph  Smith  went  to  Coles- 
ville  (we  will  remember  about  this  Colesville  Branch, 
for  it  was  a  very  important  branch,  and  has  a  great 
history),  Broome  County,  New  York,  and  began  to 
preach.  He  stayed  while  in  Colesville  with  Joseph 
Knight,  the  man  who  had  been  very  kind  to  him  and 
brought  things  needed  when  he  was  translating  the 
story  from  the  plates.  After  the  meetings  at  Coles- 
ville, Joseph  went  back  to  Fayette.  In  June,  1830, 
the  church  held  its  first  conference. 

fereSice°n"  There   were   about  thirtY  in  the  church 

at  this  time.  They  opened  meeting  by 
singing  and  praying.  They  partook  of  sacrament  as 
the  Bible  tells  us  Christ  and  his  disciples  did  in  the 
church  in  Palestine.  Some  were  ordained,  or  blessed, 
to  be  ministers  for  Christ.  At  this  conference  some 
of  the  people  saw,  by  the  Spirit,  many  beautiful  and 
wonderful  things  that  made  them  understand  what 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  41 

the  Lord  wanted  these  people  to  do  to  help  mankind. 

After  conference,  David  Whitmer  baptized  nine 
persons  in  Seneca  Lake ;  their  names  were  John  Poor- 
man,  John  Jolly,  Jerusha  Smith,  Katherine  Smith, 
William  Smith,  Don  C.  Smith,  Peter  Rockwell,  Caro- 
line Rockwell,  and  Electa  Rockwell. 

Joseph  Smith  and  wife  now  went  to  their  own  home 
in  Harmony,  Pennsylvania.  Oliver  Cowdery  and 
John  and  David  Whitmer  went  with  them  to  visit 
Joseph  Knight.  There  were  people  that  wanted  to  be 
baptized.  On  Sunday  there  was  to  be  a  meeting.  On 
Saturday  the  church  people  made  a  dam  across  a  little 
stream  so  the  water  would  stay  in  one  place  and  be- 
come deep  enough  so  the  people  could  be  baptized,  for 
they  believed  in  the  baptism  that  the  Bible  tells  about, 
and  it  takes  much  water  for  that  kind;  so  both  the 
preacher  and  the  one  being  baptized  can  go  down  in 
the  water  together. 

On  Sunday  Oliver  Cowdery  and  others  preached, 
telling  about  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  repentance 
and  baptism,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands  for  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

They  went  about  now  telling  the  people  that  the 
old  gospel  had  come  back  to  the  earth,  and  the  story 
of  the  Indians,  or  Lamanites,  and  all  the  wonderful 
story  of  the  angel's  coming  to  earth  again.  Some  peo- 
ple hated  them  as  the  people  hated  Jesus,  in  Jesus' 
time,  and  they  wanted  to  kill  them  and  do  anything 
to  them  that  would  hurt  them  or  keep  them  from 


42  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

preaching,  or  showing  the  Book  of  Mormon.  The 
church  people  believed,  and  did  lay  hands  on  sick  peo- 
ple, and  God  healed  them. 

Many  of  the  world's  people  did  not  like  to  have 
them  do  this,  but  the  Lord  told  them  to  do  these  things 
and  he  (the  Lord)  would  bless  them,  and  they  felt 
that  they  must  do  all  that  they  could  for  the  sick  and 
poor  and  blind,  and  even  the  bad  ones,  that  God's  love 
might  be  all  the  time  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  to 
help  them  bear  things  cheerfully  and  make  them 
happy.  Those  who  hated  them  gathered  into  a  mob 
and  tried  every  plan  to  break  up  their  meetings  and 
keep  them  from  preaching  or  baptizing. 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  43 


CHAPTER  11. 

Joseph   Smith   Before  the  Courts  of  the  Land. 

WHILE  in  Coles  ville,  the  mob  spoiled  the  dam  in 
the  river  so  there  could  be  no  baptisms  on  Sunday. 
But  early  Monday  morning,  the  church  people  fixed 
the  dam,  and  before  the  mob  knew  it,  had  baptized  a 
number  of  people.  The  mob  began  to  gather  before 
they  were  through,  but  there  were  thirteen  baptized 
by  Oliver  Cowdery.  Their  names  were 
Emma  Smith,  Hezekiah  Peck  and  wife, 
Joseph  Knight  and  wife,  William 
Stringham  and  wife,  Joseph  Knight,  junior,  Aaron 
Culver  and  wife,  Levi  Hall,  Polly  Knight,  and  Julia 
Stringham. 

There  were  about  fifty  men  in  the  mob,  and  they 
threatened  and  raged,  surrounding  the  house  of  Mr. 
Knight — where  the  church  people  had  gone  after  the 
baptisms — and  acting  so  rudely  that  the  church  people 
left  the  house,  going  to  Newel  Knight's,  and  the  mob 
followed.  There  was  to  be  a  meeting  in  the  evening, 
but  Joseph  Smith  was  arrested  for  preaching  about 
the  Book  of  Mormon.  The  constable  told  Joseph  that 
the  mob  had  a  plan  to  get  Joseph  and  kill  him,  but  the 
constable  found  that  he  was  not  the  bad  man  the  mob 
said  he  was. 

The  mob  did  try  to  get  Joseph,  but  the  constable 
got  him  away  by  whipping  up  his  horse.  Then  a  wheel 


44  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

came  off  the  wagon,  and  they  came  near  getting  to 
him.  The  wheel  was  soon  on,  and  they  hurried  to 
Mobg  South  Bainbridge.  Here  Joseph  stayed 

in  an  upper  room  of  a  tavern.  The  con- 
stable slept  on  the  floor  that  night  with  his  feet  against 
the  door,  and  a  loaded  musket  by  his  side.  Joseph 
slept  on  a  bed  in  the  corner.  The  constable  was  de- 
termined to  fight  for  Joseph.  The  next  day  they  held 
court. 

They  had  many  false  things  charged  against  Joseph 
Smith.  Among  the  witnesses  was  the  man,  Josiah 

Stoal,    for    whom   Joseph    Smith   had 

Josiah  Stoal. 

worked  when  he  was  a  boy.  The  court 
and  Mr.  Stoal  had  a  dialogue  something  like  this : 

"Question.  Did  not  the  prisoner,  Joseph  Smith, 
have  a  horse  of  you?  Answer.  Yes.  Question.  Did 
not  he  go  to  you  and  tell  you  that  an  angel  had  ap- 
peared unto  him,  and  authorized  him  to  get  the  horse 
from  you?  Answer.  No;  he  told  me  no  such  story. 
Question.  Well;  how  had  he  the  horse  of  you?  An- 
swer. He  bought  him  of  me,  as  another  man  would 
do.  Question.  Have  you  had  your  pay?  Answer. 
That  is  not  your  business.  The  question  being  again 
put,  the  witness  replied,  I  hold  his  note  for  the  price 
of  the  horse,  which  I  consider  as  good  as  the  pay;  for 
I  am  well  acquainted  with  Joseph  Smith,  junior,  and 
know  him  to  be  an  honest  man ;  and  if  he  wishes  I  am 
ready  to  let  him  have  another  horse  on  the  same 
terms." 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  45 

Then  a  Jonathan  Thompson  was  called,  and  there 
was  another  dialogue: 

"Question.  Has  not  the  prisoner,  Joseph  Smith, 
junior,  had  a  yoke  of  oxen  of  you?  Answer.  Yes. 
Question.  Did  he  not  obtain  them  of  you  by  telling 
you  that  he  had  a  revelation  to  the  effect  that  he  was  to 
have  them?  Answer.  No ;  he  did  not  mention  a  word 
of  the  kind  concerning  the  oxen;  he  purchased  them 
the  same  as  another  man  would." 

So  soon  as  the  court  had  set  Joseph  Smith  free,  an- 
other constable  from  another  county  arrested  him  and 
took  him  to  Broome  County.    This  con- 
stable was  very  rude  and  most  unkind;     persecuted!™ 
after  taking  Joseph  to  a  tavern,  he  gath- 
ered in  a  number  of  men  who  abused  and  insulted  the 
young  man,  spitting  upon  him  and  pointing  their 
fingers  at  him,  crying,  "Prophesy,  prophesy."     Jos- 
eph asked  for  food  and  they  gave  him  some  crusts  and 
some  water;  nothing  more.    The  next  day  they  tried 
to  prove  that  he  had  been  a  money  digger  and  alto- 
gether a  bad  man.    A  Mr.  Davidson  and  a  Mr.  Reed 
helped  Joseph,  and  the  court  found  nothing  against 
him. 

The  constable  who  had  treated  him  so  badly  now 
came  to  him  and  asked  his  forgiveness,  and  told  him 
what  the  mob  was  going  to  do.  He  helped  Joseph 
to  get  away  from  the  mob  to  Emma  Smith's  sister's 
house.  Here  he  found  his  wife,  and  the  next  day  with 
her  he  went  to  his  own  house. 


4,6  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

After  a  few  days,  Joseph  and  Oliver  Cowdery  went 
back  to  Colesville  to  confirm  the  ones  who  had  been 
baptized,  but  the  mob  was  getting  together.  So  these 
two  young  men  returned  immediately  to  Joseph's 
home.  Years  after,  in  a  state  convention  at  Nauvoo, 
Illinois,  the  same  Mr.  Reed  told  of  Joseph  Smith's 
trial  in  those  courts  in  New  York.  He  said  that  not 
one  spot  or  blemish  was  found  against  the  character 
of  Joseph  Smith;  but  he  said,  "They  were  sure  they 
could  send  the  boy  to  hell  or  to  Texas."  It  was  about 
twelve  o'clock  at  night  when  the  trial  closed  and  the 
judge  said,  "Not  guilty";  but  in  half  an  hour  they 
made  that  other  arrest  and  took  him  off  to  Broome 
County. 

Here  again  his  friend,  Mr.  Reed,  acted  as  his  law- 
yer, and  we  will  let  him  tell  his  story: 

"I  was  again  called  upon  by  his  friends  to  defend 
him  against  his  malignant  persecutors,  and  clear  him 
from  the  false  charges  they  had  preferred  against  him. 
I  made  every  reasonable  excuse  I  could,  as  I  was 
nearly  worn  down  through  fatigue  and  want  of  sleep, 
as  I  had  been  engaged  in  lawsuits  for  two  days  and 
nearly  the  whole  of  two  nights.  But  I  saw  the  per- 
secution was  great  against  him.  And  here  let  me  say, 
Mr.  Chairman,  singular  as  it  may  seem,  while  Mr. 
Knight  was  pleading  with  me  to  go,  a  peculiar  impres- 
sion or  thought  struck  my  mind,  that  I  must  go  and 
defend  him,  for  he  was  the  Lord's  anointed.  I  did  not 
know  what  it  meant,  but  I  thought  I  must  go  and 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  47 

clear  the  Lord's  anointed.  I  said  I  would  go;  and 
started  with  as  much  faith  as  the  apostles  had  when 
they  could  remove  mountains,  accom- 
panied by  Father  Knight,  who  was  like  ™0eink°drd's 
the  old  patriarchs  that  followed  the  ark 
of  God  to  the  city  of  David.  We  rode  on  until  we 
came  to  the  house  of  Hezekiah  Peck,  where  a  num- 
ber of  Mormon  women  had  assembled,  as  I  was  in- 
formed, for  the  purpose  of  praying  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  prophet  of  the  Lord.  The  women  came 
out  to  our  wagon,  and  Mrs.  Smith  among  the  rest.  O 
my  God,  sir;  what  were  my  feelings  when  I  saw  that 
woman  who  had  but  a  few  days  before  given  herself, 
heart  and  hand,  to  be  a  consort  for  life,  and  that  so 
soon  her  crimson  cheeks  must  be  wet  with  tears  that 
came  streaming  from  her  eyes.  Yes,  sir,  it  seemed 
that  her  very  heartstrings  would  be  broken  with  grief. 
My  feelings,  sir,  were  moved  with  pity  and  sorrow  for 
the  afflicted ;  and  on  the  other  hand  they  were  wrought 
up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  indignation  against  those 
fiends  of  hell  who  had  thus  caused  the  innocent  to 
suffer. 

"The  next  morning  about  ten  o'clock  the  court  was 
organized.  The  prisoner  was  to  be  tried  by  three  jus- 
tices of  the  peace,  that  his  departure  out  of  the  county 
might  be  made  sure.  Neither  talents  nor  money  were 
wanting  to  insure  them  success.  They  employed  the 
ablest  lawyer  in  that  county,  and  introduced  twenty 
or  thirty  witnesses  before  dark,  but  proved  nothing. 


4g  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

They  then  sent  out  runners  and  ransacked  the  hills  and 
vales,  grogshops  and  ditches,  and  gathered  together  a 
company  that  looked  as  if  they  had  come  from  hell 

and  had  been  whipped  by  the  soot  boy 
Um'ony?d'S  teS"  thereof,  which  they  brought  forward  to 

testify  one  after  another,  but  with  no 
better  succes  than  before,  although  they  wrung  and 
twisted  into  every  shape,  in  trying  to  tell  something 
that  would  criminate  the  prisoner.  Nothing  was 
proved  against  him  whatever.  Having  got  through 
with  the  examination  of  their  witnesses  about  two 
o'clock,  in  the  morning,  the  case  was  argued  about  two 
hours.  There  was  not  one  particle  of  testimony 
against  the  prisoner.  No,  sir,  he  came  out  like  the 
three  children  from  the  fiery  furnace,  without  the  smell 
of  fire  upon  his  garments.  The  court  deliberated  upon 
the  case  for  half  an  hour  with  closed  doors,  and  then 
we  were  called  in.  The  court  arraigned  the  prisoner 
and  said:  'Mr.  Smith,  we  have  had  your  case  under 
consideration,  examined  the  testimony  and  find  noth- 
ing to  condemn  you,  and  therefore  you  are  dis- 
charged.' " — Taken  from  Times  and  Seasons,  vol.  5, 
pp.  550,  551. 


Yt)UNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  12. 

Commandments  about  Hymns  and  the  Sacrament. 

JOSEPH  had  been  told  many  things  by  the  Lord. 
Sometimes  the  Lord  told  him  to  tell  others  what  to  do ; 
and  sometimes  he  told  him  things  that  made  plain  to 
the  church  people  what  they  did  not  otherwise  under- 
stand. Then  came  a  revelation  telling  Emma  Smith 
she  was  to  choose  some  hymns  for  the  use  of  the  church, 
and  she  was  to  write  for  her  husband  so  that  Oliver 
might  be  free  to  go  and  preach.  Emma  Smith  took 
delight  in  music.  She  had  some  training  in  music  and 
the  use  of  the  voice.  She  had  a  clear,  ringing,  soprano 
voice,  of  more  than  ordinary  quality.  Some  now  liv- 
ing recall  the  ease  with  which  she  would  take  the  high 
notes  in  some  of  the  old-time  hymns,  even  after  she 
had  passed  late  middle  life. 

She  began  selecting  the  hymns  for  the  new  hymn 
book,  and  assisting  her  husband  with  his  writing. 
Oliver  Cowdery  returned  to  Fayette,  but  John  Whit- 
mer  resided  with  and  assisted  Joseph.  They  began 
to  arrange  and  copy  the  revelations  which  Joseph  had 
received.  Oliver  Cowdery  and  the  Whitmers  were 
great  friends  of  Joseph,  but  they  did  not  worship  him. 

One  time  Joseph  got  a  very  harsh  letter  from 
Oliver,  commanding  him  to  change  the  words  in  a  cer- 
tain commandment.  Joseph  immediately  went  to 
Fayette  and  found  all  the  Whitmers  agreed  with 


5Q  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

Oliver.  Joseph  told  them  he  had  no  right  to  change 
any  commandment  of  God.  He  finally  got  Christian 
Joseph  would  Whitmer  to  see  what  he  thought  was 
not  change  reasonable  and  according  to  Scripture, 

commandment.  .  .  . 

and  with  Christian  s  help,  Oliver  and  the 
rest  were  finally  convinced.  This  shows  that  these 
men  were  not  under  the  control  of  Joseph  Smith ;  they 
thought  and  spoke  and  acted  for  themselves.  Joseph 
showed  a  kindly  spirit  and  was  not  a  "boss"  at  any 
time;  yet,  he  would  not  give  up  what  he  thought  was 
right,  merely  to  keep  these  men  his  friends.  He 
needed  every  friend  that  he  had  on  earth,  and  loved 
them  dearly ;  he  could  not  bear  to  think  of  giving  them 
up.  He  might  have  changed  this  one  little  line  in  the 
commandment  to  please  them,  but  he  did  not.  He  was 
sorrowful  and  anxious.  They  had  done  much  for  him 
and  the  work  that  he  was  leading,  and  they  were 
among  his  dearest  companions  and  friends,  but  he  did 
not  yield.  He  overcame  by  his  very  love  and  earnest- 
ness, and  the  commandment  stood  as  the  Lord  had 
given  it  to  him;  and  the  friends  were  still  friends  and 
believers. 

It  was  early  in  August,  1830,  that  Joseph  went  to 
get  some  wine  to  use  in  sacrament.  He  had  gone  but 
a  little  way  when  he  was  met  by  a  heavenly  messenger 
who  gave  him  a  long  revelation  about  the  sacrament, 
the  first  paragraph  being  this : 

"Listen  to  the  voice  of  Jesus  Christ,  your  Lord, 
your  God,  and  your  Redeemer,  whose  word  is  quick 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  5} 

and  powerful.  For,  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  that  it 
mattereth  not  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink, 
when  ye  partake  of  the  sacrament,  if  it  so  be  that  ye 
do  it  with  an  eye  single  to  my  glory;  remembering 
unto  the  Father  my  body  which  was  laid  down  for  you, 
and  my  blood  which  was  shed  for  the  remission  of  your 
sins ;  wherefore  a  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that 
you  shall  not  purchase  wine,  neither  strong  drink  of 
your  enemies;  wherefore  you  shall  partake  of  none, 
except  it  is  made  new  among  you;  yea,  in  this  my 
Father's  kingdom  which  shall  be  built  up  on  the 
earth." 

Joseph  wrote  this  paragraph  down  at  the  time.  He 
returned  to  the  house  and  told  those  present.  They 
made  some  sweet  wine  and  had  their  meeting  and  sac- 
rament. There  were  Newel  Knight  and  wife,  Joseph 
Smith  and  wife,  and  John  Whitmer ;  they  had  a  "glo- 
rious" meeting. 

Afterward,  people  began  to  persecute  them  again. 
A  man  professing  to  be  a  Methodist  minister  went  to 
Emma  Smith's  father,  Mr.  Hale,  and 
by  telling  shameful  falsehoods,  turned     Smith's  father 
him    against    his    son-in-law,    Joseph     eph^mith08" 
Smith.     He  knew  that  Mr.  Hale  had 
promised  Joseph  protection  and  was  friendly  to  him, 
and  he  did  turn  him  against  the  young  Prophet. 

The  mob  began  to  gather  and  to  treat  these  people 
shamefully.  Mr.  Whitmer  heard  of  these  troubles 
over  in  Harmony,  Pennsylvania,  and  he  sent  them  an 


52  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

invitation  to  come  live  with  him.  Mr.  Knight  came 
with  his  wagon  and  moved  Joseph  and  family  to  Fay- 
Joseph  Smith  ette,  New  York.  This  was  the  last  week 

moves  to  Fay-      of  August,   1830. 
ette. 

At  this  time  trouble  began  in  the 
church.  Hiram  Page  had  come  into  possession  of  a 
stone,  and  claimed  that  by  it  he  had  received  revela- 
tions about  Zion  and  the  order  of  the  church,  directly 
opposite  to  the  same  things  as  told  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  the  things  told  to  Joseph.  There  was  to  be 
a  conference  the  first  of  September,  but  Joseph  did 
not  wait  for  that.  Many  were  believing 
Hiram  Page  (especially  the  Whitmer 
family  and  Oliver  Cowdery)  so  Joseph 
prayed  to  the  Lord.  The  Lord  answered,  saying  that 
Joseph  was  to  be  the  one  to  receive  revelations  for  the 
church. 

Hiram  Page  was  to  be  dealt  with  kindly,  but  all 
things  were  to  be  done  by  consent  of  the  church.  The 
people  might  accept  or  reject  Joseph  Smith's  word. 
Everything  was  to  be  done  by  the  order  as  chosen  by 
the  church.  People  might  have  revelations,  but  not 
commandments  to  the  church.  This  same  revelation 
told  Oliver  Cowdery  he  was  to  be  heard  by  the  church 
as  he  spoke  by  the  Comforter ;  and  Oliver  was  to  go  to 
the  Indians  (or  Lamanites)  and  preach  to  them,  and 
there  was  to  be  a  city  built  on  the  borders  "of  the 
Lamanites." 

In  September  the  conference  met,  and  the  trouble 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  53 

with  Hiram  Page  was  settled,  Hiram  Page  himself 
being  convinced  that  he  was  wrong.  There  were  many 
things  talked  of  at  this  conference,  but  it  was  peaceful, 
and  all  the  church  showed  how  anxious  they  were  to 
go  on  and  tell  about  God's  love  and  do  the  good  things 
he  required  of  them. 

Several  of  the  elders  were  greatly  interested  in  the 
Indian  mission.     They  hoped  the  Indians  would  re- 
ceive the  gospel  and  become  a  clean  and  peaceable 
people.  Peter  Whitmer  was  commanded  to  go  to  them 
with  Oliver;  Ziba  Peterson  and  Parley 
P.  Pratt  were  also  to  go  with  them.     ££jjrch  physi" 
Thomas  B.  Marsh  was  chosen  by  revela- 
tion to  be  the  church  physician  and  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel ;  but  he  was  not  to  be  a  physician  to  the  world,  for 
they  would  not  receive  him. 

We  again  find  evidence  of  the  kindness  of  the 
Whitmers,  for  Parley  P.  Pratt  left  his  wife  an  inmate 
of  their  home  while  he  went  west.  Parley  Pratt  was 
a  young  man,  not  long  married. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1830 


CHAPTER  13. 

The  Mission  to  the  West. 


The  village  of  Kirtland   on  the  flats. 


THE  ELDERS  at  once 
made  ready  to  go 
west.  Starting  in  Oc- 
tober, they  traveled 
through  the  villages 
and  country,  telling 
the  people  by  their 
doors  or  firesides 
about  the  Book  of 
Mormon  and  the  church.  They  preached  wherever 
possible.  They  came  to  Kirtland,  a  village  in  north- 
eastern Ohio.  This  part  of  the  United  States  was 
called  the  West  at  that  time. 

Among  those  who  joined  the  church  here  was  Sid- 
ney Rigdon,  who  became  a  very  important  man  in  the 
church.  When  young  Rigdon  was  twenty-six  years 
of  age,  he  had  preached  for  the  Regular  Baptists,  and 
afterward  preached  for  the  First  Baptist  Church  of 
Pittsburg.  He  was  a  brilliant  and  stirring  speaker. 
His  church  was  always  well  filled  with  interested  lis- 
teners. But  he  did  not  find  in  those  church  creeds  or 
doctrines  the  things  Jesus  taught  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. He  stopped  preaching  and  left  his  church, 
where  he  might  have  made  himself  rich  and  famous; 
but  he  was  after  truth. 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  55 

While  he  was  so  popular  as  a  preacher,  there  came 
to  him  the  missionaries,  Parley  Pratt,  his  friend,  with 
Ziba  Peterson,  Oliver  Cowdery,  and  Peter  Whitmer. 
They  told  the  story  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  that 
the  Lord  had  raised  up  a  prophet  and  restored  the 
priesthood  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Christ. 

Elder  Pratt  had  been  a  preacher  in  the  same  church 
with  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  he  was  on  a  mission  for  that 
church  when  he  found  Joseph  Smith  and  the  church. 
He  was  so  pleased  with  his  new  faith  that  he  made  this 
call  on  his  old  friends  to  tell  them  the  good  news  and 
great  things  the  Lord  was  doing.  So 

u-  u  4-1,       n  ^    sidney  Risdon 

the  very  first  house  at  which  they  called     first  sees  the 
was   Sidney  Rigdon's.     They  showed          k  of 


the  Book  of  Mormon.  Elder  Rigdon 
objected  to  their  statement  that  the  Book  of  Mormon 
was  a  revelation  from  God.  He  was  like  many  peo- 
ple to-day  who  think  that  there  is  no  inspiration  from 
God  in  any  book  but  the  Bible.  He  was  kind  and 
hospitable  and  advised  his  friends  to  "prove  all 
things,"  and  examine  the  book.  He  himself  read  the 
book,  praying  for  light,  and  thinking  about  the  things 
he  read.  In  about  two  weeks,  he  was  sure  the  book 
was  true,  and  it  was  revealed  to  him  from  Jesus  Christ. 
He  told  his  wife  and  she  agreed  with  him,  and  they 
were  baptized  November  14,  1830. 

There  were  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
who  had  joined  the  church  here,  so  they  made  a  little 
branch  in  that  part  of  Ohio,  after  ordaining  Sidney 


56 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  57 

Rigdon,  Isaac  Morley,  John  Murdock,  Lyman 
Wight,  Edward  Partridge,  and  many  others  to  the 
ministry. 

The  missionaries,  bound  for  the  Lamanites  and 
western  Missouri,  went  on  their  way,  but  they  had  one 
more  in  their  party  now.     They  had 
found  a  doctor,  whose  name  was  Fred-     wniiams. 
erick  G.  Williams,  with  a  good  practice 
in  this  land,  and  told  him  their  story  and  their  mission. 
He  was  soon  ready,  baptized,  and  went  with  them  as 
they  left  for  the  land  of  the  Lamanites.    Joseph  Smith 
says  that  he  was  full  of  love  and  kindness;  was  not  a 
man  of  many  words,  but  very  winning  in  his  ways; 
honest  and  upright,  but  not  having  much  confidence 
in  himself. 

Sidney  Rigdon  had  never  seen  Joseph  Smith,  and 
had  been  a  very  busy  minister  for  the  greater  part  of 
his  life. 


58  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 


CHAPTER  14. 

Something  More  about  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

IT  is  WELL  to  remember  that  the  story  written  from 
the  plates  was  a  simple,  plain  story  of  the  people  who 
left  the  Old  World,  where  Jerusalem  was  built,  and 
came  to  this  New  World.  It  told  how  they  traveled, 
of  their  boats  and  cities  and  battles.  It  told  of  their 
church  and  how  Jesus  visited  the  people  in  this  land 
after  his  resurrection ;  how  the  people  became  wicked 
Indians;  and  story  after  story  written  by  different 
writers  was  engraven,  cut  in  the  gold  or  brass  plates 
until  there  were  many  of  the  stories,  some  of  them 
bound  together.  A  man  named  Moroni  was  the  last 
of  the  good  people  to  write,  and  he  put 
namednMoroni.  tne  plates  in  the  box,  as  we  have  told 
you, — hiding  them  in  the  earth  until  the 
time  came.  Then  he  came  to  tell  the  boy  at  Manches- 
ter, New  York,  about  them.  And  at  times  he  took 
the  plates  and  kept  them  from  others,  during  the 
months  after  they  were  first  given  to  the  young  man. 
When  the  time  came,  he  showed  them  to  the  three 
witnesses,  and  when  the  story  was  written,  he  took 
them  away  again — no  man  can  tell  where. 

To  men  who  were  willing  to  read  the  book  and 
think  about  it  with  fairness,  the  story  bore  its  own 
testimony,  and  there  were  many  strong-minded,  fair- 
minded  men  joined  this  church,  and  carried  their  Book 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  59 

of  Mormon  to  others.  It  had  many  names.  It  was 
called  the  Record—  "The  Stick  (or  book)  of  Joseph 
in  the  hands  of  Ephraim";  "The  History  of  the  An- 
cient Americans";  but  the  name,  Book  of  Mormon, 
given  it  by  the  Angel  Moroni,  was  the  real  name,  and 
the  best  for  it. 

Many  people  failed  to  consider  the  power  of  God 
in  the  translating  of  the  book  from  the  strange  writ- 
ing. They  said  an  ignorant  boy  could  not  do  such  a 
thing.  "He  has  stolen  it  from  some  place."  Others 
did  not  read  it,  but  pretended  they  knew  about  it,  and 
said  it  was  a  silly  fable.  Others  claimed  that  Joseph 
Smith  just  made  up  the  story  to  get  money  and  fool 
the  people.  Among  these  stories  was  "The  Story  of 
the  Manuscript  Found." 

This  was  a  little  story  written  by  a  man  named  Solo- 
mon Spalding,  who  it  was  claimed  was  educated,  who 
had  been  a  minister,  but  because  of  ill 
health  could  not  work  in  the  ministry.  ^cript^Found. 
To  amuse  himself,  he  wrote  a  story  and 
read  it  to  his  friends.  It  was  written  at  New  Salem, 
Ohio,  in  1812.  The  man  died  in  Amity,  Washington 
County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1816.  His  wife  carefully 
kept  the  story,  still  unprinted.  She  had  it  in  this  con- 
dition in  1834.  The  Book  of  Mormon  went  to  the 
printer  in  1829,  and  was  all  printed  by  March,  1830. 
Yet  this  story  was  believed  about  it:  That  Sidney 
Rigdon  secured  this  Spalding  Story,  and  Joseph 
Smith  read  it  and  fixed  up  the  story  into  the  Book  of 


60  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

Mormon.  In  fact,  Sidney  Rigdon  never  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  Joseph  Smith  until  December,  1830, 
and  then  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  being  read  by 
many  people.  Parley  Pratt  first  showed  the  Book  of 
Mormon  to  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  he  did  not  know  of 
it  until  April  6, 1830.  Oliver  Cowdery  stated  in  1848 : 

"I  wrote,  with  my  own  pen,  the  entire  Book  of 
Mormon  (save  a  few  pages),  as  it  fell  from  the  lips 
of  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith,  as  he  translated  it  by 
the  gift  and  power  of  God.  I  beheld  with  my  eyes 
and  handled  with  my  hands  the  gold  plates  from 
which  it  was  translated.  .  .  .  That  book  is  true.  Sidney 
Rigdon  did  not  write  it.  Mr.  Spalding  did  not  write 
it.  I  wrote  it  myself  as  it  fell  from  the  lips  of  the 
Prophet." 

And  Sidney  Rigdon  himself  denies  writing  it  in 
these  words: 

"In  your  paper  of  the  18th  instant,  I  see  a  letter 
signed  by  somebody  calling  herself  Matilda  Davison, 
pretending  to  give  the  origin  of  Mormonism,  as  she 
is  pleased  to  call  it,  by  relating  a  moonshine  story 
about  a  certain  Solomon  Spalding,  a  creature  with 
the  knowledge  of  whose  earthly  existence  I  am  en- 
tirely indebted  to  this  production;  for  surely,  until 
Doctor  Philastus  Hurlbut  informed  me  that  such  a 
being  lived,  at  some  former  period,  I  had  not  the  most 
distant  knowledge  of  his  existence.  .  .  .  It  is  only 
necessary  to  say,  in  relation  to  the  whole  story  about 
Spalding's  writings  being  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Patter- 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  61 

son,  who  was  in  Pittsburg,  and  who  is  said  to  have 
kept  a  printing  office,  and  my  saying  that  I  was  con- 
cerned in  the  said  office,  etc.,  etc.,  is  the  most  base  of 
lies,  without  even  the  shadow  of  truth." 

The  county  and  state  records  of  those  years,  from 
1826,  show  where  Sidney  Rigdon  was  and  what  doing. 
for  he  was  a  popular  minister  and  performed  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  for  many  people;  and  prior  to  that 
time  his  life  was  the  quiet  life  of  a  young  student  and 
preacher. 

We  see  in  the  story  of  Elder  Bigdon's  life  nothing 
to  lead  us  to  believe  that  he  was  deceitful  or  in  any 
way  insincere.  Anyone  reading  the  Manuscript  Found 
and  then  reading  the  Book  of  Mormon  will  find  noth- 
ing in  the  one  at  all  like  the  other,  in  spirit  or  letter. 
It  has  been  many  years  since  this  story  was  told.  The 
story  by  the  Salem  minister  is  almost  unknown.  The 
Book  of  Mormon  is  published  by  thousands  in  many 
languages,  and  men  are  discovering  the  cities  and 
towns  that  it  tells  about.  Many,  many  of  them  are 
found  buried  and  ruined.  Every  year,  some  discovery 
is  made  that  proves  the  truth  of  the  Book  of  Mormon 
story.  Parley  Pratt,  Oliver  Cowdery, 
Ziba  Peterson,  and  Peter  Whitmer  left  Indians  near 


two  of  this  Book  of  Mormon  with  the  *  of 


Indians  near  Buffalo,  New  York,  and     Mormon. 

told  them  that  it  was  the  record  of  their 

forefathers.     The  Indians  received  them  kindly,  and 


Q2  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

some  of  them  being  able  to  read,  accepted  the  books. 
These  were  the  first  Indians  to  read  this  history  of  the 
Indians,  and  their  beginning  in  America. 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  (53 


CHAPTER  15. 

The  Visit  of  the  Missionaries  to  the  Indians. 

THE  VISIT  they  made  to  the  Delaware  Indians  liv- 
ing across  the  Kansas  River,  in  Kansas  Territory,  was 
very  interesting.  They  found  the  chief  a  very  old 
man;  he  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  Delawares  for  a 
long  time.  The  Indians  treated  him  respectfully,  as 
if  he  were  the  great-grandfather  of  their  Ten  Nations 
or  tribes. 

He  was  sitting  on  a  sofa  or  lounge  of  furs,  skins, 
and  blankets,  before  a  fire  in  the  center  of  his  "lodge," 
which  was  a  cabin  of  two  rooms.  The  Indian  women 
in  his  "lodge"  were  dressed  quite  neatly,  partly  in 
calico  and  partly  in  the  skins  of  animals.  They  wore 
many  silver  ornaments.  The  old  chief  treated  the 
missionaries  very  kindly,  giving  them  a  seat  on  the 
buffalo  robes  and  blankets;  the  women  brought  them 
a  tin  pan  full  of  beans  and  corn  boiled  together,  which 
tasted  very  good,  but  there  was  just  one  wooden  spoon 
in  the  tin  pan,  so  the  three  missionaries  had  to  take 
turns  eating.  When  all  this  was  over,  the  mission- 
aries began  to  tell  the  chief  about  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, and  when  the  chief  finally  understood  about  it, 
he  had  them  wait  until  he  could  call  a  council,  as  they 
wanted  him  to  do,  so  the  chief  men  could  all  hear  about 
it.  In  an  hour  they  had  gathered  about  forty  of  them 
into  the  "lodge."  Each  one  shook  hands  with  the 


64  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

missionaries,  then  sat  quietly  down  to  wait.  At  last 
they  were  ready,  and  the  chief  told  the  missionaries  to 
tell  their  story,  and  this  is  the  way  Oliver  Cowdery 
told  it: 

"Aged  Chief  and  Venerable  Council  of  the  Dela- 
ware Nation:  We  are  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  ad- 
dress you  as  our  red  brethren  and  friends.  We  have 
traveled  a  long  distance  from  towards 
indhms  tO  the  ^ne  rising  sun  t°  bring  you  glad  news; 
we  have  traveled  the  wilderness,  crossed 
the  deep  and  wide  rivers,  and  waded  in  the  deep  snows, 
and  in  the  face  of  the  storms  of  winter,  to  communi- 
cate to  you  great  knowledge  which  has  lately  come  to 
our  ears  and  hearts;  and  which  will  do  the  red  man 
good  as  well  as  the  paleface. 

"Once  the  red  men  were  many;  they  occupied  the 
country  from  sea  to  sea — from  the  rising  to  the  set- 
ting sun;  the  whole  land  was  theirs;  the  Great  Spirit 
gave  it  to  them,  and  no  palefaces  dwelt  among  them. 
But  now  they  are  few  in  numbers;  their  possessions 
are  small,  and  the  palefaces  are  many. 

"Thousands  of  moons  ago,  when  the  red  men's 
forefathers  dwelt  in  peace  and  possessed  this  whole 
land,  the  Great  Spirit  talked  with  them,  and  revealed 
his  law  and  his  will,  and  much  knowledge  to  their  wise 
men  and  prophets.  This  they  wrote  in  a  book;  to- 
gether with  their  history,  and  the  things  which  should 
befall  their  children  in  the  latter  days. 

"This  book  was   written   on  plates   of  gold   and 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  ^5 

handed  down  from  father  to  son  for  many  ages  and 
generations. 

"It  was  then  that  the  people  prospered,  and  were 
strong  and  mighty;  they  cultivated  the  earth;  built 
buildings  and  cities,  and  abounded  in  all  good  things, 
as  the  palefaces  now  do. 

"But  they  became  wicked;  they  killed  one  another 
and  shed  much  blood;  they  killed  their  prophets  and 
wise  men,  and  sought  to  destroy  the  book.  The  Great 
Spirit  became  angry,  and  would  speak  to  them  no 
more;  they  had  no  more  good  and  wise  dreams;  no 
more  visions ;  no  more  angels  sent  among  them  by  the 
Great  Spirit;  and  the  Lord  commanded  Mormon  and 
Moroni,  their  last  wise  men  and  prophets,  to  hide  the 
book  in  the  earth,  that  it  might  be  preserved  in  safety, 
and  be  found  and  made  known  in  the  latter  day  to  the 
palefaces  who  should  possess  the  land;  that  they 
might  again  make  it  known  to  the  red  man;  in  order 
to  restore  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  >vill  of  the 
Great  Spirit  and  to  his  favor.  And  if  the  red  man 
would  then  receive  this  book  and  learn  the  things 
written  in  it,  and  do  according  thereunto,  they  should 
be  restored  to  all  their  rights  and  privileges;  should 
cease  to  fight  and  kill  one  another ;  should  become  one 
people;  cultivate  the  earth  in  peace,  in  common  with 
the  palefaces,  who  were  willing  to  believe  and  obey 
the  same  book,  and  be  good  men  and  live  in  peace. 

"Then  should  the  red  men  become  great,  and  have 
plenty  to  eat  and  good  clothes  to  wear,  and  should  be 


QQ  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1830 

in  favor  with  the  Great  Spirit  and  be  his  children, 
while  he  would  be  their  Great  Father,  and  talk  with 
them,  and  raise  up  prophets  and  wise  and  good  men 
amongst  them  again,  who  should  teach  them  many 
things. 

"This  book,  which  contained  these  things,  was  hid 

in   the    earth   by    Moroni,    in  a   hill   called   by   him 

Cumorah,  which  hill  is  now  in  the  State  of  New  York, 

near  the  village  of  Palmyra,  in  Ontario 

Book  hidden  in      p          . 
Cumorah.  County. 

"In  that  neighborhood  there  lived  a 
young  man  named  Joseph  Smith,  who  prayed  to  the 
Great  Spirit  much,  in  order  that  he  might  know  the 
truth;  and  the  Great  Spirit  sent  an  angel  to  him,  and 
told  him  where  this  book  was  hid  by  Moroni ;  and 
commanded  him  to  go  and  get  it.  He  accordingly 
went  to  the  place,  and  dug  in  the  earth,  and  found  the 
book  written  on  golden  plates. 

"But  it  was  written  in  the  language  of  the  fore- 
fathers of  the  red  man ;  therefore  this  young  man,  be- 
ing a  paleface,  could  not  understand  it ;  but  the  angel 
told  him  and  showed  him,  and  gave  him  knowledge 
of  the  language,  and  how  to  interpret  the  book.  So  he 
interpreted  it  into  the  language  of  the  palefaces,  and 
Present  In-  wrote  it  on  paper,  and  caused  it  to  be 
ifook  ^fthMor-  printed,  and  published  thousands  of 
n*011-  copies  of  it  among  them;  and  then  sent 

us  to  the  red  men  to  bring  some  copies  .of  it  to  them, 
and  to  tell  them  this  news.    So  we  have  now  come  from 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  37 

him,  and  here  is  a  copy  of  the  book,  which  we  now 
present  to  our  red  friend,  the  chief  of  the  Delawares, 
and  which  we  hope  he  will  cause  to  be  read  and  known 
among  his  tribe;  it  will  do  them  good." 

They  then  presented  him  with  a  Book  of  Mormon. 

There  was  a  pause  in  the  council,  and  some  con- 
versation in  their  own  tongue,  after  which  the  chief 
made  the  following  reply: 

"We  feel  truly  thankful  to  our  white  friends  who 

have  come  so  far,  and  been  at  such  pains  to  tell  us 

good  news,  and  especially  this  new  news  concerning 

the  book  of  our  forefathers;  it  makes  us  glad  in  here" 

—placing  his  hand  over  his  heart. 

"It  is  now  winter,  we  are  new  settlors  in  this  place; 
the  snow  is  deep,  our  cattle  and  horses  are  dying,  our 
wigwams  are  poor ;  we  have  much  to  do  in  the  spring 
—to  build  houses,  and  fence  and  make  farms ;  but  we 
will  build  a  council  house,  and  meet  together,  and  you 
shall  read  to  us  and  teach  us  more  concerning  the  book 
of  our  fathers  and  the  will  of  the  Great  Spirit." 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1830 


CHAPTER  16. 

Translation  of  the  Bible  Begun. 

AMONG  the  converts  to  the  church  were  men  of 
mature  years  and  men  of  families,  but  the  principal 
workers  were  men  in  youthful  manhood,  young  men 
full  of  hope  and  earnestness.  Among 
Orson  Pratt.  these  we  mention  Orson  Pratt.  His 
brother,  Parley  Pratt,  had  joined  the 
church  in  1830,  been  ordained,  and  had  taken  a  mis- 
sion; but  in  September,  before  leaving  for  the  West, 
he  baptized  this  younger  brother  of  his.  It  was  the 
young  man's  nineteenth  birthday  and  the  nineteenth 
of  September,  1830. 

In  November,  this  young  man  came  to  Joseph 
Smith,  trying  to  learn  what  his  duty  was.  Joseph 
Smith  prayed  to  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  gave  instruc- 
tion to  Orson  Pratt.  He  was  to  preach  repentance 
to  the  people,  and  the  young  man  became  a  deep 
thinker,  and  a  zealous  preacher.  His  name  and  what 
it  meant  as  a  worker  is  known  in  the  History  of  the 
Church. 

In  December,  1830,  Sidney  Rigdon  visited  Joseph 
Smith,  for  the  first  time  meeting  that  man,  and  he,  too, 
wanted  to  hear  if  the  Lord  had  something  for  him 
to  do  of  special  importance.  With  Sidney  Rigdon 
came  a  man  named  Edward  Partridge,  a  wealthy  man 
and  true,  and  these  two  men  were  told  by  the  Prophet 


1830]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  gg 

what  the  Lord  had  made  plain  to  him  that  they  were 
to  do  at  this  time. 

The  last  revelation  given  in  1830  mentions  a  work 
begun  in  June,  1830,  a  work  of  which  Joseph  Smith 
had  been  able  to  do  but  very  little.  Sidney  Rigdon  was 
commanded  to  write  for  Joseph,  and  to  journey  with 
him  and  watch  over  him.  This  work  of  writing,  for 
one  thing,  was  most  important.  The  work  was  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures,  or  the  Bible.  There  were 
many  things  as  they  appeared  in  the  Bible  that  seemed 
to  be  in  contradiction,  and  some  books  mentioned  in 
the  Bible  that  should  have  been  in  it,  were  nowhere  to 
be  found.  They  were  called  "lost  books."  The  Lord 
revealed  some  of  these  lost  writings  to  the  church  from 
the  prophecy  of  Enoch.  The  revelation  concerning 
these  things  was  given  in  June,  1830,  and  it  is  a  story 
of  the  Lord  directing  Moses.  Here,  in  speaking  to 
Moses,  he  tells  how  there  is  a  loss  of  words  and  mean- 
ing in  the  Bible.  He  says: 

"In  a  day  when  the  children  of  men  shall  esteem 
my  words  as  naught,  and  take  many  of  them  from  the 
book  wliich  you  [Moses]  shall  write,  behold,  I  will 
raise  up  another  like  unto  you,  and  they  shall  be  had 
again  among  the  children  of  men." 

This  one  that  was  to  restore  these  words,  Joseph 
Smith  claimed  to  be,  and  by  inspiration  of  almighty 
God,  he  began  and  continued  to  translate  the  Bible. 
Here  was  come  to  him  a  man  who  had  made  the  Scrip- 
tures his  life  study ;  a  brave,  courageous  man,  mature 


7Q  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1831 

of  thought,  and  earnest  of  heart,  guided  to  this  young 
man  in  the  very  hour  of  his  need  for  such  help ;  a  man 
of  deep  thought  and  wide  experience  in  the  study  and 
propounding  of  the  Scriptures;  but  he,  too,  found 
the  information  was  extended  beyond  his  knowledge. 
This  revelation,  late  in  December,  1830,  cautioned 
them  to  "translate  no  more  because  of  the  enemy," 
until  they  should  go  to  Ohio.  But  they  were  not  to 
go  to  Ohio  until  they  had  preached  the  gospel  in  those 
parts,  and  strengthened  the  faith  of  the  Saints.  They 
were  to  gather  to  Ohio  by  the  time  of  Oliver  Cow- 
dery's  return.  Ohio  was  a  very  important  State.  It 
stood  between  the  East  and  the  great  unknown  West, 
like  some  place  of  preparation. 

January  2,  1831,  there  was  a  conference  at  Fayette, 
New  York,  when  they  received  a  further  command- 
ment to  go  to  Ohio.     They  were  told  that  there  was 
to   be   a   mysterious   thing  happen   in 

Going  to  Ohio.  ,     . 

secret  chambers  to  bring  to  pass  the  de- 
struction of  the  church  in  time.  They  had  promise  of 
many  good  things  in  Ohio.  The  Lord  was  going  to 
give  them  more  power  and  light,  and  there  were  to 
be  bishops  appointed  to  care  for  the  needy,  and  gov- 
ern the  affairs  of  the  property  of  the  church. 

This  was  a  very  important  revelation,  because  it 
contained  much  of  warning  and  instruction  to  the 
church  that  would  save  trouble  and  sorrow  if  they 
heeded  it,  and  studied  to  understand  it.  Not  all  men, 
who  received  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  the  mouth  of 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  7^ 

his  Prophet,  heeded  it.  There  was  one  man,  James 
Covill,  who  had  been  a  Baptist  preacher,  who  asked 
God's  commandment  to  him,  and  when  it  came,  he 
rejected  it  and  went  away.  He  probably  counted  the 
cost  too  great,  when  he  considered  the  persecution  he 
might  receive. 

Joseph  Smith  tells  of  the  journey  of  himself  and 
wife  and  Sidney  Rigdon  into  Ohio,  and 'the  branch  at 
Kirtland: 

"The  latter  part  of  January,  in  company  with 
Brothers  Sidney  Rigdon  and  Edward  Partridge,  I 
started  with  my  wife  for  Kirtland,  Ohio,  where  we 
arrived  about  the  first  of  February,  and  were  kindly 
received  and  welcomed  into  the  house  of  Brother  N. 
K.  Whitney.  I  and  my  wife  lived  in  the  family  of 
Brother  Whitney  several  weeks,  and  received  every 
kindness  and  attention  which  could  be  expected,  and 
especially  from  Sister  Whitney.  The  branch  of  the 
church  in  this  part  of  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard, which  had  increased  to  nearly  one  Kirtland!n 
hundred  [this  evidently  should  read  one 
thousand]  members,  were  striving  to  do  the  will  of 
God,  so  far  as  they  knew  it,  though  some  strange  no- 
tions and  false  spirits  had  crept  in  among  them.  With 
a  little  caution  and  some  wisdom  I  soon  assisted  the 
brethren  and  sisters  to  overcome  them.  The  plan  of 
'common  stock,'  which  had  existed  in  what  was  called 
'the  family,'  whose  members  generally  had  embraced 
the  everlasting  gospel,  was  readily  abandoned  for  the 


72  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1831 

more  perfect  law  of  the  Lord:  and  the  false  spirits 
were  easily  discerned  and  rejected  by  the  light  of 
revelation." — From  Times  and  Seasons,  vol.  4,  p.  368. 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  17. 

rx  m    i     / 

The  First  Bishop  Called.      /* 

ON  FRIDAY,  February  4,  1831,  a  revelation  was 
given  in  which  the  church  was  promised,  if  it  would 
meet  with  "prayer  and  faith,"  a  law  should  be  given 
whereby  the  church  might  be  governed  and  have  all 
things  right  before  God.  They  had  the  meeting,  and 
the  law  was  given  which  was  to  last  until  the  judgment 
day.  The  first  bishop  was  called,  the  man  Edward 
Partridge,  whom  Joseph  Smith  had  baptized  in  Seneca 
River,  in  New  York,  on  December  11,  1830.  This 
man  had  been  baptized  into  the  Christian  Church,  in 
1828,  by  Sidney  Rigdon,  but  was  in  doubt  many  times 
whether  that  was  the  right  church,  and  was  now  glad 
to  find  it.  In  the  revelation,  he  is  likened  to  "Nathan- 
iel of  old  in  whom  there  is  no  guile."  Joseph  Smith 
called  him  a  "pattern  of  piety,"  and  "one  of  the  Lord's 
great  men,  known  by  his  steadfastness  and  patient 
endurance  to  the  end."  (From  Times  and  Seasons, 
vol.  4,  p.  320.) 

This  revelation  containing  the  law  was  given  on 
Wednesday,  February  9,  1831,  in  the  presence  of 
twelve  elders.  This  document  is  beautiful  in  its  plain- 
ness, and  if  it  were  kept  as  a  law,  there  would  be  no 
wickedness  in  the  church,  and  no  poor.  When  we  read 
it,  we  see  in  it  beauty  and  order  and  the  love  of  Christ 
made  manifest  in  the  acts  of  man.  Not  only  was  the 


74  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

church  to  be  pure,  but  if  anyone  did  wrong  before  the 
laws  of  the  land,  the  church  was  to  give  him  up  to  the 
men  whose  right  it  is  to  see  that  the  law  is  kept.  In 
this  way  the  church  might  keep  herself  pure  and  help 
to  purify  the  world. 

A  bad  man  turned  out  of  the  church  makes  the 
world  no  better,  and  the  church  has  a  duty  toward  the 
nation  in  the  control  of  her  members.  She  is  a  part 
inspired  °^  ^ne  nation,  and  if  she  kept  this  law 

Translation  of  she  Would  be  a  marvelous  help.  In  this 
law  the  translation  of  the  Bible  is  men- 
tioned again.  They  were  not  to  teach  this  Inspired 
Translation  until  they  had  all  of  it  translated.  They 
were  to  keep  still  about  it  until  all  the  Bible  was  trans- 
lated. The  manuscripts  were  to  be  preserved.  Noth- 
ing would  happen  to  them  until  they  were  finally 
ready.  Then  they  were  to  be  preached  to  every  na- 
tion. How  wonderfully  this  promise  was  kept  we 
shall  see  as  we  move  on  through  the  history.  We  shall 
see  the  faithful  care  they  had  from  the  woman  to 
whom  they  were  intrusted,  and  who  proved  true  to 
the  trust. 

God  promised  before  this  band  of  twelve  men:  "If 
they  shall  ask,  they  shall  receive  that  which  would 
bring  them  joy  and  life  eternal." 

In  June,  there  was  another  conference  called  by 
revelation. 

There  were  many  foolish  stories  told  about  this 
church,  whose  members  were  called  "Mormons"  be- 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  75 

cause  they  believed  in  the  Book  of  Mormon.  Because 
of  the  false  and  silly  stories,  they  were  made  ridicu- 
lous and  appeared  like  foolish  people  to  the  world; 
but  the  church  grew  very  fast. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1831 


CHAPTER  18. 

The  Story  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  Told  to  the  Indians. 

THIS  story  is  told  in  plain  words  and  beautiful  style 
by  Parley  P.  Pratt,  thus: 

"In  the  beginning  of  1831  we  renewed  our  journey; 
and,  passing  through  Saint  Louis  and  Saint  Charles, 
we  traveled  on  foot  for  three  hundred  miles  through 
vast  prairies  and  through  trackless  wilds  of  snow- 
no  beaten  road ;  houses  few  and 
far  between;  and  the  bleak 
northwest  wind  always  blow- 
ing in  our  faces  with  a  keen- 
ness which  would  almost  take 
the  skin  off  the  face.  We  trav- 
eled for  whole  days,  from 
morning  till  night,  without  a 
house  or  fire,  wading  in  snow 
to  the  knees  at  every  step,  and 
the  cold  so  intense  that  the 

Old  road  near  river.  snow  did  not  melt  On  the  SOUth 

side  of  the  houses,  even  in  the  midday  sun,  for  nearly 
six  weeks.  We  carried  on  our  backs  our  changes  of 
clothing,  several  books,  and  corn  bread  and  raw  pork. 
We  often  eat  [ate]  our  frozen  bread  and  pork  by  the 
way,  when  the  bread  would  be  so  frozen  that  we  could 
not  bite  or  penetrate  any  part  of  it  but  the  outside 
crust. 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  77 

"After  much  fatigue  and  some  suffering  we  all  ar- 
rived in  Independence,  in  the  County  of  Jackson,  on 
the  extreme  western  frontiers  of  Missouri,  and  of 
the  United  States. 

"This  was  about  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  where 
we  started,  and  we  had  performed  most  of  the  journey 
on  foot,  through  a  wilderness  country,  in  the  worst 
season  of  the  year,  occupying  about  four  months,  dur- 
ing which  we  had  preached  the  gospel  to  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Gentiles  and  two  nations  of  Indians ;  baptiz- 
ing, confirming,  and  organizing  many  hundreds  of 
people  into  churches  of  Latter  Day  Saints." 

While  these  brave  men  were  doing  so  much  in  the 
West,  there  were  as  brave  and  willing  men  working 
in  the  East.  Orson  Pratt,  early  in  1831,  walked  from 
New  York  to  Kirtland,  Ohio,  about  three  hundred 
miles,  preaching  as  he  went,  at  every  opportunity,  and 
making  opportunities.  He  was  zealous  and  success- 
ful in  his  work. 

Lyman  Wight  records  in  his  journal  that  from  the 
time  of  his  ordination,  November  20,  1830,  to  June 
14,  1831,  he  traveled  six  hundred  miles  (this  without 
railroads),  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  and  baptized 
three  hundred  and  ninety-nine  persons.  Others  were 
as  busy.  These  are  but  samples  of  the  zeal  and  ardor 
with  which  the  men  of  that  day  worked  for  the  good 
of  mankind.  It  is  little  wonder  that  the  church  had 
many  "added  to  it." 

The  people  were  commanded  to  gather  out  of  the 


78  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

Eastern  lands  and  go  to  the  Western  lands.  The 
West  was  not  what  we  now  would  think  of.  Then, 
Command-  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Missouri  were  called 

to  "the  West-"  They  were  to  g° to  these 

places  with  the  gospel.  In  March,  Jos- 
eph Smith  received  much  valuable  information  by 
revelation  for  the  church.  Again  we  find  them  given 
permission  to  translate  the  Scriptures ;  and  the  church 

is  told  that  war  is  near,  and  it  will  not 

War    near. 

be  many  years  until  they  shall  hear  of 
war  in  their  own  land. 

Lemon  Copley,  a  former  member  of  the  church  of 
the  Shakers,  had  joined  the  church,  but  still  believed 
the  Shakers  were  right  in  some  things.  Joseph  in- 
quired of  the  Lord,  and  so  came  that  revelation  touch- 
ing the  peculiar  belief  of  the  Shakers.  One  paragraph 
of  this  revelation  we  present,  thinking  it  very  impor- 
tant when  we  consider  how  some  of  the  early  church- 
men in  after  years  did  just  the  opposite  way: 

"And  again,  I  say  unto  you,  that  whoso  forbiddeth 
to  marry,  is  not  ordained  of  God,  for  marriage  is  or- 
dained of  God  unto  man;  wherefore  it  is  lawful  that 
he  should  have  one  wife,  and  they  twain 
shall  be  one  flesh,  and  all  this  that  the 
earth  might  answer  the  end  of  its  creation;  and  that 
it  might  be  filled  with  the  measure  of  man,  according 
to  his  creation  before  the  world  was  made.  And  whoso 
forbiddeth  to  abstain  from  meats,  that  man  should 
not  eat  the  same,  is  not  ordained  of  God ;  for,  behold, 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  79 

the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  that 
which  cometh  of  the  earth,  is  ordained  for  the  use  of 
man,  for  food,  and  for  raiment,  and  that  he  might 
have  in  abundance,  but  it  is  not  given  that  one  man 
should  possess  that  which  is  above  another;  wherefore 
the  world  lieth  in  sin;  and  woe  be  unto  the  man  that 
sheddeth  blood  or  that  wasteth  flesh  and  hath  no  need." 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 


CHAPTER  19. 

The  First  Historian  and  First  Conference  at  Kirtland,  Ohio. 

AMONG  other  offices  in  the  church  was  that  of  His- 
torian. Early  as  1831,  John  Whitmer  was  made 
Church  Historian,  and  if  he  had  kept  as  busy  at  that 
work  as  were  the  missionaries,  the  Church  History 
would  to-day  be  full  and  interesting;  but  what  hin- 
dered him,  we  can  not  tell  ;  the  history  we  get  as  writ- 
ten by  him  is  meager. 

In  April,  1831,  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon 
did  some  more  translating  of  the  Bible.  In  May, 
1831,  a  revelation  was  given  about  the  different  spirits 
shown  by  men's  actions  in  the  world.  Kirtland  was 
the  scene  of  much  activity  about  this  time,  for  the 
people  acting  according  to  God's  command  had  left 
the  East.  Many  of  them  joined  com- 
011  pany  and  traveled  together,  and  so  there 


would  come  over  the  Ohio  hills  little 
trains  of  loaded  wagons,  or  sometimes  just  a  family 
in  their  covered  wagons  or  carriages.  This  sudden 
coming  of  many  people  to  a  community  made  it  hard 
to  care  for  them.  Some  were  poor,  and  some  of  them 
were  the  families  of  missionaries,  and  all  needed 
homes,  and  many  needed  help. 

The  Lord  spoke  by  revelation,  telling  Edward 
Partridge,  the  Bishop,  how  to  organize  the  people  and 
bring  order  where  there  might  be  confusion  and  ap 


1831] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


81 


unsettled  condition.  This  revelation  is  the  great  law 
that  God  intended  should  make  his  people  equal  and 
should  help  them  to  be  unselfish  and  "be  alike  among 
this  people." 

The  organizing  was  to  be  done  by  vote,  in  the  ap- 
pointing of  officers  and  agents,  by  the  voice  of  the 
church;  but  everything  was  to  be  "according  to1  the 
law  of  the  land."  We  find 
as  we  go  over  the  history, 
the  Lord  makes  plain  the 
way  for  these  people  to 
live  together  in  settle- 
ments or  communities, 
and  all  be  provided  for, 
that  there  be  no  poor 
among  them,  and  no  bad 
or  lazy  people  protected 
by  them.  Each  man  was 
expected  to  do  his  share  in 
his  place  to  keep  the 


growing 


and 


church 
healthy. 

In  June,  1831,  there 
was  a  General  Conference  at  Kirtland,  Ohio.  All  the 
elders  from  near  and  far  that  possibly  could  do  so 
gathered  to  the  beautiful  hill  country  of  Kirtland. 
Early  in  June  the  meetings  began.  Several  men 
were  selected  and  ordained  to  be  high  priests.  This 
was  the  first  time  this  office  in  this  priesthood  had  been 


g2  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

given  to  men  in  this  time.     This  was  the  fullness  of 
the  Melchisedec  priesthood,  like  that  of  the  Son  of 
God.    The  office  of  elder  is  like  it  to  a  certain  degree. 
The  following  day  a  revelation  was  given,  provid- 
ing that  the  next  conference  was  to  be  held  in  Mis- 
souri.    That  was  very  exciting,  for  Missouri  was  far 
away  on  the  very  line  where  the  Indian 
country   began.      Several   elders   were 
called  to  go  two  by  two  by  different 
ways,  preaching  the  gospel  as  they  went,  and  finally 
meet  in  Missouri. 

Almost  immediately,  three  of  the  elders,  named 
Jacob  Scott,  Edson  Fuller,  and  William  Carter,  apos- 
tatized and  would  not  go.  This  left  one  man,  Wheeler 
Baldwin,  without  a  traveling  mate.  So  he  stayed  in 
Ohio  and  preached  among  the  churches  there.  There 
were  twenty-six  elders  appointed  to  go  on  this  long 
preaching  tour,  and  by  twelve  different  ways  they 
finally  reached  Missouri.  Twenty-two  of  them 
started  as  commanded,  on  a  journey  full  of  hardships 
and  exposure,  with  none  of  the  conveniences  of  mod- 
ern travel,  and  few  of  the  comforts  of  those  pioneer 
days.  They  were  full  of  hope  that  they  should  meet 
and  rejoice  in  the  land  of  Missouri,  which  land  they 
expected  to  some  day  own,  but  which  the  Lord  told 
thejn  was  now  the  land  of  their  enemies.  There  were 
two  elders  sent  back  to  the  East  to  labor  with  their 
families.  In  this  same  month  of  June,  Sidney  Gilbert 
was  called  to  be  an  elder,  and  an  agent  for  the  Bishop, 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  gg 

and  he  was  to  go  with  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rig- 
don.  Newel  Knight  also  was  to  journey  to  Missouri. 
Parley  Pratt  had  returned  to  Ohio  from  Missouri 
during  the  spring. 

The  preaching  to  the  Indians  seemed  to  be  of  great 
interest  to  the  church  people.  Eagerly  they  listened 
for  news  from  those  who  had  gone  out  to  Missouri  the 
fall  of  1830. 

Oliver  Cowdery  wrote  in  that  flowing,  easy  way  of 
his,  concerning  this  work.  His  letter  is  dated  May  7, 
1831,  and  written  at  "Kaw  Township, 
Missouri,"    being    somewhere   between     £°tyKansas 
the  present  Kansas  City  and  Independ- 
ence.    At  that  time  there  was  no  Kansas  City,  the 
settlement  consisting  of  little  more  than  a  trading 
post.1 


Dearly  Beloved  Brethren;  I  have  nothing  particular  to  write  as 
concerning  the  Lamanites,  and  because  of  a  short  journey  which  I  have 
just  returned  from,  in  consequence  of  which  I  have  not  written  to  you 
since  the  sixteenth  of  last  month.  I  and  Brother  Ziba  went  into  the 
county  east,  which  is  Lafayette,  and  is  about  forty  miles;  and  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  we  called  on  the  people  to  repent;  many  of  whom  are,  I 
believe,  earnestly  search-ing  for  truth,  and  if  sincerely,  I  pray  they  may 
find  that  precious  treasure.  .  .  .  The  letter  we  received  from  you  informed 
us  that  the  opposition  was  great  against  you.  Now,  our  beloved  breth- 
ren, we  verily  believe  that  we  also  can  rejoice  that  we  are  counted  worthy 
to  suffer  shame  for  His  name;  for  almost  the  whole  country,  (which 
consists  of  Universalists,  Atheists,  Deists,  Presbyterians,  Methodists, 
Baptists,  and  professed  Christians,  priests  and  people,  with  all  the  devils 
from  the  infernal  pit),  are  united  and  foaming  out  their  own  shame. 
God  forbid  that  I  should  bring  a  railing  accusation  against  them,  for 
vengeance  belongeth  to  Him  who  is  able  to  repay:  and  herein  brethren 
we  confide. 

I  am  informed  of  another  tribe  of  Lamanites  lately,  who  have  abun- 
dance of  flocks  of  the  best  kinds  of  sheep  and  cattle,  and  they  manu- 
facture blankets  of  a  superior  quality.  The  tribe  is  very  numerous;  they 


g4  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

live  three  hundred  miles  west  of  Santa  Fe,  and  are  called  Navajoes. 
Why  I  mention  this  tribe  is,  because  I  feel  under  obligations  to  communi- 
cate to  my  brethren  every  information  concerning  the  Lamanites  that  I 
meet  with  in  my  labors  and  travels,  believing  as  I  do  that  much  is 
expected  from  me  in  the  cause  of  our  Lord;  and  doubting  not  but  I  am 
daily  remembered  in  your  prayers  before  the  throne  of  the  Most  High 
by  all  of  my  brethren,  as  well  by  those  who  have  not  seen  my  face  in 
the  flesh  as  those  who  have. 

We  begin  to  expect  our  Brother  Pratt,  soon;  we  have  heard  from  him 
only  when  he  was  at  Saint  Louis.  We  are  all  well  (bless  the  Lord)  and 
preach  the  gospel  we  will  if  earth  and  hell  oppose  our  way  and  we  dwell 
in  the  midst  of  scorpions;  for  in  Jesus  we  trust.  Grace  be  with  you 
all.  Amen. — From  Times  and  Seasons,  vol.  5,  pp.  432,  483. 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  35 


CHAPTER  20. 

The  Travelers  Toward  Zion. 

BEFORE  JOSEPH  SMITH  left  Kirtland,  a  gentleman, 
W.  W.  Phelps,  with  his  family,  came  to  see  him,  and 
wanted  to  know  God's  will  regarding  him.     They 
prayed  and  God  answered.    He  was  to  be  a  minister, 
but  he  was  also  to  "assist  Oliver  Cow- 
dery  to  do  the  work  of  printing,  and     ®^8  for  chi1' 
of    selecting,    and    writing   books    for 
schools,  in  this  church,  that  little  children  also  may 
receive  instruction  before  me  as  is  pleasing  unto  me." 

Is  it  not  wonderful  that  the  very  things  needed  were 
provided  for?  Here  was  a  man  able  to  do  this  very 
necessary  work  led  by  the  Spirit  right  to  the  place, 
and  at  the  time  needed. 

The  Lord  wanted  a  people  who  were  not  ignorant, 
and  he  made  a  way  for  this  church  to  select  and  write 
books,  so  they  need  have  only  that  which  was  true  and 
good  taught  them  and  their  children.  Elder  Phelps 
joined  the  party  going  to  Missouri.  He  w  w  Phelps 
could  the  more  quickly  get  into  his  field  sain?  to  Mis- 
of  work  and  meet  Oliver  Cowdery.  We 
find  some  changes  in  the  men  who  were  to  go  to  Mis- 
souri. Thomas  B.  Marsh  did  not  wish  to  wait,  his 
companion  not  being  ready,  so  Selah  Griffin  was  told 
to  go  with  Elder  Marsh. 

On  the  nineteenth  day  of  June,  Joseph  Smith,  Sid- 


gg  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

ney  Rigdon,  Edward  Partridge,  W.  W.  Phelps,  Jos- 
eph Coe,  Martin  Harris,  A.  S.  Gilbert  and  his  wife, 
left  Kirtland  for  Missouri.  They  traveled  by  wagon 
and  canal  boats  and  stages,  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  From 
that  city  they  went  in  a  steamboat  to  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky. Here  they  waited  for  three  days  for  a 
steamer  to  take  them  to  Saint  Louis,  Missouri.  At 
Saint  Louis  they  separated,  Joseph  Smith,  Martin 
Harris,  W.  W.  Phelps,  Edward  Partridge,  and  Jos- 
eph Coe  walking  to  Independence. 

They  arrived  at  this,  the  county  seat  of  Jackson 
County,  Missouri,  about  the  middle  of  July,  1831, 
Elder  Rigdon,  A.  S.  Gilbert  and  wife  going  up  the 
river  by  steamer  and  reaching  Independence  a  few 
days  later.  They  were  treated  with  unkindness  and 
abuse  by  many  because  they  believed  in  the  Book  of 
Mormon.  Yet  they  enjoyed  many  blessings.  They 
made  it  a  rule  to  read  as  often  as  possible  from  the 
Bible,  and  to  pray.  They  were  glad  to  meet  their 
brethren,  but  they  found  everything  different  from 
the  country  they  had  left. 

There  the  most  of  the  people  were  refined  and  cul- 
tured in  books,  and  in  gentle  ways  and  honesty  and 
truth.  Here  was  a  people  who  were  different,  many 
of  them  ignorant,  most  of  them  rough  and  careless  of 
right  or  justice.  The  Indians  were  not  the  most  sav- 
age and  abominable  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  beau- 
tiful prairies  and  noble  timber  lands,  as  future  history 
will  show. 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  37 

The  outlook  did  not  seem  to  be  very  cheering  or 
promising,  and  Joseph  Smith  in  his  account  of  it 
breaks  into  the  language  of  the  prophets:  "When  will 
the  wilderness  blossom  as  a  rose?  When  will  Zion  be 
built  up  in  her  glory?  And  where  will  thy  temple 
stand  into  which  all  nations  shall  come  in  the  last  day?" 
There  is  a  note  of  sadness  in  this  that  finds  an  answer- 
ing chord  in  the  bitter  days  that  came  so  soon  after- 
ward. Was  the  prophetic  soul  of  the  man  in  touch 
with  coming  events? 

What  these  brave  men  suffered  who  took  that  hard 
journey  to  Missouri  can  not  by  any  of  us  be  even 
guessed  at.  Lyman  Wight's  account 
of  that  journey,  kept  daily,  gives  us  a 
faint  idea.  They  baptized  many,  and 
fifty  miles  from  Independence,  John  Murdock  was 
left  sick,  and  Lyman  Wight  pushed  on  to  Independ- 
ence. Securing  a  horse,  he  went  back  after  Elder 
Murdock.  He  held  him  on  the  horse,  walking  by  his 
side  back  to  the  city  of  hope.  This  was  in  August. 


88 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1831 


CHAPTER  21. 

The  Temple  Lot  and  Zion. 

IN  JULY,  1831,  at  Independence,  was  given  the 
revelation  pointing  out  the  spot  for  the  building  of  the 
Temple,  and  telling  the  people  that  this  was  the  land 
of  promise,  with  Independence  as  a  center  place.  In 
the  revelation,  the  Lord  says:  "It  is  wisdom  that  the 
land  should  be  purchased  by  the  Saints."  The  counsel 
in  this  is  indeed  good.  They  were  to  have  a  store,  with 
Sidney  Gilbert  in  charge,  and  W.  W.  Phelps  and 
Oliver  Gowdery  were  to  enter  upon  their  work  of 
printing  and  selecting  and  writing  schoolbooks,  so 
that  all  might  be  right.  These  things  were  to  be  done 


Temple  Lot  at  Independence,  Missouri. 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  gg 

regularly  and  according  to  law,  the  law  of  the  land 
and  the  law  of  the  church. 

The  church  was  warned  of  tribulation,  and  given 
many  and  careful  directions.  On  the  Sunday  after 
the  arrival  of  Joseph  Smith  and  his  party,  W.  W. 
Phelps  preached.  .His  audience  was  made  up  of 
white  pioneers,  Indians,  and  negroes.  On  the  same 
day,  two  people  were  baptized.  The  following  week, 
the  whole  church  branch  from  Colesville,  New  York, 
Sidney  Rigdon  and  wife,  and  Elders  Morley  and 
Booth  arrived. 

On  the  second  day  of  August,  Joseph  Smith  as- 
sisted the  people  of  the  Colesville  Branch  in  laying 
the   first   logs    for   a    house,    in    Kaw     coie8Viiie 
Township,  twelve  miles  west  of  Inde-     Branch  in  Mis- 
pendence.      This    was    the    foundation 
for  Zion,   and  was   attended  with  some   ceremony. 

The  log  was  carried  to  its  place  by  twelve  men, 
representing  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  At  the  same 
time,  Elder  Rigdon  by  prayer  dedicated  and  conse- 
crated the  land  of  Zion  for  the  gathering  of  the  Saints. 
The  description  of  this  land  follows: 

"As  we  had  received  a  commandment  for  Elder 
Rigdon  to  write  a  description  of  the  land  of  Zion,  we 
sought  for  all  information  necessary  to  accomplish  so 
desirable  an  object.  Unlike  the  timbered  States  in 
the  East,  except  upon  the  rivers  and  watercourses, 
which  were  verdantly  dotted  with  trees  from  one  to 
three  miles  wide,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  glance,  the  beau- 


90  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

tiful  rolling  prairies  lay  spread  around  like  a  sea  of 
meadows.  The  timber  is  a  mixture  of  oak,  hickory, 
black  walnut,  elm,  cherry,  honey  locust,  mulberry, 
coffee  bean,  hackberry,  box  elder,  and  basswood,  to- 
gether with  the  addition  of  cottonwood,  buttonwood, 
pecan,  soft  and  hard  maple,  upon  the  bottoms.  The 
shrubbery  was  beautiful,  and  consisted  in  part  of 
plums,  grapes,  crab  apples,  and  persimmons.  The 
prairies  were  decorated  with  a  growth 
of  flowers  that  seemed  as  gorgeous  and 
grand  as  the  brilliancy  of  stars  in  the 
heavens,  and  exceed  description.  The  soil  is  rich  and 
fertile,  from  three  to  ten  feet  deep,  and  generally  com- 
posed of  rich  black  mold,  intermingled  with  clay  and 
sand.  It  produces  in  abundance,  wheat,  corn,  and 
many  other  commodities,  together  with  sweet  pota- 
toes and  cotton.  Horses,  cattle,  and  hogs,  though  of 
an  inferior  breed,  are  tolerably  plenty,  and  seem 
nearly  to  raise  themselves  by  grazing  in  the  vast 
prairie  range  in  summer,  and  feeding  upon  the  bot- 
toms in  winter.  The  wrild  game  is  less  plenty  where 
man  has  commenced  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  than  it 
is  a  little  distance  farther  in  the  wild  prairies.  Buf- 
falo, elk,  deer,  bear,  wolves,  beaver,  and  many  lesser 
animals  roam  at  pleasure.  Turkeys,  geese,  swans, 
ducks,  yea,  a  variety  of  the  feathered  race  are  among 
the  rich  abundance  that  graces  the  delightful  regions 
of  this  goodly  land  of  the  heritage  of  the  children  of 
God.  Nothing  is  more  fruitful,  or  a  richer  stock- 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  gi 

holder  in  the  blooming  prairies,  than  the  honey  bee; 
honey  is  but  about  twenty-five  cents  per  gallon. 

"The  season  is  mild  and  delightful  nearly  three 
quarters  of  the  year,  and  as  the  land  of  Zion,  situated 
at  about  equal  distances  from  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Oceans,  as  well  as  from  the  Allegheny  and  Rocky 
Mountains,  in  the  thirty-ninth  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude, and  between  the  tenth  and  seventeenth  degrees 
of  west  longitude,  it  bids  fair  to  become  one  of  the 
most  blessed  places  on  the  globe,  when  the  curse  is 
taken  from  the  land,  if  not  before.  The  winters  are 
milder  than  in  the  Atlantic  States,  of  the  same  paral- 
lel of  latitude;  and  the  weather  is  more  agreeable,  so 
that  were  the  virtues  of  the  inhabitants  only  equal  to 
the  blessings  of  the  Lord,  which  he  permits  to  crown 
the  industry  and  efforts  of  those  inhabitants,  there 
would  be  a  measure  of  the  good  things  of  life,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Saints,  full,  pressed  down,  and  running 
over,  even  an  hundredfold.  The  disad-  Disadvantages 
vantages  here,  like  all  new  countries,  are  of  the  new 

country. 

self-evident,  lack  of  mills  and  schools, 
together  with  the  natural  privations  and  inconven- 
iences, which  the  hand  of  industry  and  the  refinement 
of  society  with  the  polish  of  science  overcome.  But  all 
these  impediments  vanish  when  it  is  recollected  that 
the  prophets  have  said  concerning  Zion  in  the  last 
days,  how  the  glory  of  Lebanon  is  to  come  upon  her; 
the  fir  tree,  the  pine  tree,  and  the  box  together,  to 
beautify  the  place  of  his  sanctuary,  that  he  may  make 


92  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

the  place  of  his  feet  glorious;  where  for  brass  he  will 
bring  gold,  and  for  iron  he  will  bring  silver,  and  for 
wood  brass,  and  for  stones  iron;  and  where  the  feast 
of  fat  things  will  be  given  to  the  just;  yea,  when  the 
splendor  of  the  Lord  is  brought  to  one  consideration, 
for  the  good  of  his  people ;  the  calculations  of  men  and 
the  vainglory  of  the  world  vanishes ;  and  we  exclaim : 
God  will  shine — the  perfection  of  beauty  out  of  Zion." 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  93 


CHAPTER  22. 

Temple  Lot  Blessed  and  First  Conference  Held  in  Zion. 

ON  THE  third  day  of  August,  1831,  the  spot  for 
the  Temple,  "a  little  west  of  Independence,"  was 
dedicated  by  prayer  in  the  presence  of  eight  men, 
Joseph  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon,  Edward  Partridge, 
W.  W.  Phelps,  Oliver  Cowdery,  Martin  Harris,  and 
Joseph  Coe,  were  seven  of  the  eight.  We  do  not 
know  who  was  the  eighth  one.  The  eighty-seventh 
Psalm  was  read,  and  we  are  told  the  scene  was  "sol- 
emn and  impressive." 

The  Colesville  Branch  was  the  first  on  the  land,  and 
they  were  present,  and  helped  make  the  first  confer- 
ence held  in  Zion.  This  was  the  fourth  day  of  August, 
at  the  house  of  a  member,  Joshua  Lewis,  in  Kaw 
Township.  On  August  7,  1831,  the 
first  funeral  occurred,  and  Polly,  wife 
of  the  kind-hearted  Joseph  Knight, 
senior,  of  Colesville,  New  York,  was  laid  to  sleep  in 
this  strange  new  land  called  Zion.  On  the  same  day, 
Sunday,  August  7,  a  revelation  was  given,  teaching 
the  people  how  to  keep  the  Sabbath,  and  in  fact  all 
days,  and  how  further  to  increase  their  own  goodness 
and  virtue.  Following  it  came  a  revelation  on  the 
eighth,  Monday,  telling  the  elders  how  to  return  to 
the  East,  and  on  Tuesday,  the  ninth,  in  company  with 
ten  elders,  Joseph  Smith  started  for  Kirtland. 


94  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1831 

They  left  Independence  Landing  in  canoes,  and 
went  as  far  as  Osage  the  first  day.  They  camped  at 
Mcllwain's  Bend  the  night  of  the  third  day  out,  and 
the  next  morning,  Friday  the  12th,  after  prayer,  Jos- 
eph received  another  revelation  regarding  their  way 
of  going.  Sidney  Gilbert  and  W.  W.  Phelps  were  to 
hurry  upon  their  way,  the  others  going  more  leisurely, 
preaching  by  the  way,  excepting  Joseph  Smith,  Sid- 
ney Rigdon,  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  who  were  not  to 
preach  until  reaching  Cincinnati.  The  next  day,  Sat- 
urday, they  met  several  of  the  elders  who  were  on 
their  way  to  the  land  of  Zion,  and  they  greeted  each 
other  with  great  joy. 

After  this  little  meeting,  Joseph  Smith,  Sidney 
Rigdon,  and  Oliver  Cowdery  went  on  by  land  to  Saint 
Louis,  where  they  overtook  W.  W.  Phelps  and  Sidney 
Gilbert  who  had  hurried  on  by  way  of  the  river,  car- 
rying with  them  such  things  of  the  parties  as  they 
were  not  needing.  From  Saint  Louis,  part  of  them 
went  by  water,  but  Joseph  Smith  and  party  by  stage, 
arriving  at  Kirtland  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of 
August,  1831. 

There  was  great  anxiety  to  know  about  this  new 
land  of  Zion.  It  seemed  to  be  the  most  important  thing 
to  arrange  for.  Joseph  Smith  was  asked  by  many 
people  many  things  about  it,  and  how  the  Saints  were 
to  get  there,  and  what  they  were  to  do  to  get  homes. 
Earnestly  and  humbly  he  prayed,  and  God  sent  an- 
swer. They  were  not  to  go  in  a  hurry,  and  unpre- 


gg  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1831 

pared.     They  should  buy  the  land  and  go  ready  to 

keep  the  laws.     Newel  K.  Whitney  was  to  keep  the 

store  at  Kirtland  yet  a  little  while,  but 

h^y8to°Zion0  he  was  to  send  a11  money  possible  to 
help  in  the  new  settlement  in  Missouri. 
The  translating  of  the  Scriptures  again  became  the 
work  of  interest  for  Joseph  Smith,  and  he  was  busy 
the  early  part  of  September,  1831,  preparing  to  move 
Hiram,  Port-  ^°  Hiram,  in  Portage  County,  Ohio, 
age  County,  about  thirty  miles  southeast  from  Kirt- 
land. He  moved  his  family  on  Septem- 
ber 12,  into  the  home  of  John  Johnson.  Until  the 
forepart  of  October,  he  was  busy  completing  arrange- 
ments for  this  work  of  translating. 

A  conference  held  at  this  time  instructed  W.  W. 
Phelps  to  stop  at  Cincinnati  on  his  way  back  to  Mis- 
souri, and  purchase,  a  press  and  type, 
that  he  might  publish  a  monthly  church 
paper    at    Independence,    in    Jackson 
County,  Missouri.     The  name  of  the  new  paper  was 
to  be  The  Evening  and  the  Morning  Star. 


1831]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  23. 

The  First  Board  of  Publication. 

THE  FIRST  Sunday  in  October,  1831,  was  a  marked 
day  for  another  young  man  who  was  to  help  with  his 
talents  and  energy  this  new  movement  in  an  old  cause. 
In  the  store  of  Sidney  Gilbert  and  Newel  K.  Whitney, 
in  Kirtland,  Ohio,  was  a  young  clerk,  quiet  and  gen- 
tlemanly, named  Orson  Hyde.  This  young  man  was 
born  in  the  same  year  as  Joseph  Smith.  His  mother 
died  when  he  was  seven  years  old.  He  had  lived  in 
Kirtland  since  he  was  fourteen.  He  had  been  a 
Methodist  class  leader,  and  later,  as  late  as  1830,  was 
a  pastor  in  the  Disciple  Church.  He  had  spoken  in 
public  against  the  Book  of  Mormon,  but  Sidney  Rig- 
don  finally  baptized  him  into  the  church.  For  twenty 
years  he  had  seen  no  kinsman.  Now  we  find  him  will- 
ing to  devote  himself  to  this  church  work,  which  had 
for  its  only  reward  the  good  of  other  men.  He  very 
soon  took  up  active  work  and  held  places  of  trust  and 
honor  in  the  church. 

The  work  of  translating  called  for  money  to  pay 
expenses.  At  a  conference  held  at  Father  Johnson's, 
in  Hiram,  the  elders  were  told  about  it,  and  David 
Whitmer  and  Reynolds  Cahoon  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  tell  the  people  about  what  was  needed 
and  let  them  furnish  the  money  to  help  this  work 
along. 


98  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1831 

There  were  some  troubles  among  the  people  that 
had  to  be  settled,  and  frequent  pauses  in  the  work, 
that  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  might  help 
the  people  understand  the  work  of  the  church  and  the 
way  it  was  to  be  done.  Some  of  the  elders  were  not 
doing  right,  and  the  Lord  spoke  to  them,  telling  them 
to  repent  and  do  right. 

One  of  these  was  William  E.  McLellin,  a  man  of 
large  stature  and  a  good  brain.  He  had  heard  the 
gospel  preached  by  Samuel  H.  Smith  and  Reynolds 
Cahoon  while  they  were  on  their  way  to  Missouri.  He 
was  at  this  time  clerking  in  a  store,  but  he  felt  im- 
pressed to  follow  these  men,  and  accordingly  left  his 
work  and  started  for  Missouri.  He  reached  Inde- 
pendence and  was  baptized  by  Hyrum  Smith  before 
Grammar  the  rest  arriyed  there.  He  afterwards 

KC'rti°a  d*  taught  a  grammar  school  in  Kirtland, 

which  for  a  time  was  attended  by  men 
and  women,  and  later  became  a  school  for  elders.  He 
was  sent  on  a  mission  in  company  with  Samuel  H. 
Smith.  Elder  McLellin  was  about  twenty-seven 
years  old  at  this  time,  a  man  of  sudden  impulses  and 
strong  language. 

November  1,  there  was  another  conference.  Surely 
if  any  one  man  was  controlling  this  church,  there  was 
no  need  to  have  conferences  so  often  with  the  elders, 
to  decide  what  the  church  should  do.  At  this  con- 
ference, they  received  instruction  about  a  preface  to 


1831]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  99 

the  Book  of  Commandments  and  also  about  other 
things. 

Oliver  Cowdery  and  John  Whitmer  were  expect- 
ing to  go  to  Missouri  soon.  But  some  of  the  elders 
complained  about  the  language  that  Joseph  Smith 
used  in  giving  the  revelations  to  the  people.  William 
McLellin  tried  to  imitate  one  of  the  revelations  and 
failed.  This  effort  was  witnessed  by  the  elders  and 
did  them  good.  They  were  willing  to  bear  testimony 
to  the  truth  of  these  revelations  to  all  the  world.  Jos- 
eph Smith  received  a  short  revelation  on  the  subject, 
and  one  to  Orson  Hyde,  Luke  Johnson,  Lyman  John- 
son, and  William  McLellin,  sending  them  out  to 
preach. 

This  same  revelation  tells  of  other  bishops  to  be 
appointed  in  due  time,  and  tells  how  the  children  are 
to  be  taught,  and  expressed  commandment  against 
the  idler  and  the  wicked,  urging  the  parents  to  see  to 
these  things.  It  was  decided  that  Joseph  Smith 
should  get  the  revelations  ready,  and  Revelations 
Oliver  Cowdery  was  to  carry  them  to  carried  to  Mis- 

soun. 

Independence,  Missouri,  where  they 
were  to  be  published  with  the  new  printing  press  al- 
ready there,  in  the  hands  of  W.  W.  Phelps.  Joseph 
Smith  in  prayer  dedicated  the  Book  of  Command- 
ments to  the  service  of  almighty  God,  and  by  com- 
mandment from  the  Lord,  John  Whitmer  was 
appointed  to  accompany  Oliver  Cowdery  to  Inde- 
pendence. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1831 

This  was  a  pleasant  and  wise  thing.  These  men  had 
been  friends  for  years,  and  no  one  would  be  more  likely 
to  be  true  and  faithful  to  the  man  intrusted  with  these 
revelations  than  John  Whitmer.  The  way  was  long, 

almost  a  thousand  miles, 
through  a  wild,  new  country. 
Many  of  the  settlers  were  the 
roughest  of  men. 

There  was  another  object  in 
sending  John  Whitmer  with 
Oliver  Cowdery  at  this  time. 
He  was  Church  Historian, 
and  it  gave  him  splendid  op- 
portunity to  collect  matter  for 
his  history.  Oliver  Cowdery 

Up  the  hill   from  the  river.  m          J 

Near  Independence,  Missouri,      had     JUSt     returned     from     his 

mission  to  the  Indians  in  the  West;  and  could  tell  him 
many  things.  The  revelations  they  carried  to  the 
printer  were  of  great  value  to  the  church,  and  great 
care  was  taken  to  preserve  them. 

There  was  a  revelation  given  about  these  same  com- 
mandments, and  Joseph  Smith,  Martin  Harris,  Oliver 
Cowdery,  Sidney  Rigdon,  John  Whitmer,  and  W.  W. 
Phelps  were  mentioned  as  the  ones  to  manage  the 
printing  of  these  revelations  and  the  benefits  from 
them.  This  was  the  first  Board  of  Publication,  and 
every  man  on  it  was  well  suited  to  his  place  on  it. 

Oliver  Cowdery  took  the  manuscript,  and  joined 
by  John  Whitmer,  started  for  Independence,  Mis- 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


101 


souri.  No  doubt  Oliver  Cowdery  was  as  willing  to  go 
on  this  mission  as  he  had  ever  been  to  go  on  a  mission. 
The  way  was  long  and  the  way  was  hard,  but  there 
were  swreet  promises  awaiting  him,  and 
on  January  22,  1832,  in  Kaw  Town- 
ship, Jackson  County,  Missouri,  he 
married  Elizabeth  Ann  Whitmer,  sister  of  his  trav- 
eling companion,  John  Whitmer,  the  sweetheart  he 
had  first  met  in  Fayette,  New  York,  when  teaching 


First  marriage 
in    Zion. 


Beautiful  Seneca  Lake  where  many  were  baptized. 


school  there.  That  was  before  he  ever  knew  Joseph 
Smith.  This  young  German  girl  was  industrious  and 
happy,  and  had  been  baptized  by  Oliver  Cowdery  in 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1832 

the  clear  waters  of  Seneca  Lake,  in  Seneca  County, 
New  York. 

After  turning  the  revelations  over  to  these  trusted 
brethren,  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  worked 
at  the  translation  until  sent  by  the  word  of  the  Lord 
to  preach  for  a  season.  They  went  to  Kirtland  and 
held  a  council  with  the  brethren  there.  On  December 
4,  1831,  Newel  K.  Whitney  was  called  and  appointed 
to  be  the  bishop  of  Kirtland. 

There  had  been  some  lying  letters  printed  in  the 
Ofiio  Star  about  the  church.  These  letters  were  the 
work  of  Ezra  Booth,  a  man  who  had  left  the  church. 
Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  preached  where 
these  papers  were  doing  most  harm,  and  succeeded  in 
giving  men  the  true  idea  of  the  church,  whenever  they 
would  listen. 

On  Tuesday,  January  10,  1832,  they  were  com- 
manded to  translate  for  a  short  time,  attending  an- 
other conference,  and  then  returning  to 
BibleSlate  ^e  translating.  During  the  conferences, 

the  missions  of  some  were  changed,  and 
we  find  Samuel  H.  Smith  and  the  young  man,  Orson 
Hyde,  going  to  the  East  to  preach.  William  Mc- 
Lellin,  after  a  chastisement  and  repentance,  with  Luke 
Johnson  and  several  others,  were  sent  east  and  south 
and  north  and  west.  While  these  men  traveled 
preaching,  the  translating  went  on. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  24. 

Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  See  Vision  of  the  Different 
Glories,   and    Soon   after   Suffer   Persecution. 

WHILE  engaged  in  this  work,  on  Thursday,  Febru- 
ary 16,  1832,  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  saw 
the  beautiful  vision  showing  the  different  glories. 
This  is  one  of  the  grandest  documents  ever  given  to  the 
church.  It  is  comforting  to  the  heart  and  enlighten- 
ing to  the  mind.  The  study  of  it  increases  man's  con- 
ception of  God's  love  and  mercy  and  justice. 

Soon  after  this,  while  yet  at  work  translating,  Jos- 
eph Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  were  brutally  and 
violently  treated  by  a  mob  of  rough  and  wicked  men. 
The  story  of  this  attack  takes  us  back  to  tell  of  some 
other  things.  In  1831,  Joseph  Smith's  wife  lost  a 
pair  of  twins  by  death.  Near  them  lived 
a  man  named  John  Murdock.  His  wife 
had  twin  babies,  too,  but  the  mother 
died.  There  were  three  other  children  besides  the 
twins.  The  man  had  no  one  to  care  for  his  babies. 
When  about  nine  days  old,  he  took  them  to  Emma 
Smith.  They  were  adopted  by  Joseph  and  Emma 
Smith.  In  the  spring  of  1832,  when  these  children 
were  about  eleven  months  old,  they  were  very  ill  with 
measles.  Joseph  Smith  and  family  were  still  living 
at  Father  Johnson's,  at  Hiram,  and  the  story  of  the 
mob  runs  this  way,  as  told  by  Joseph  Smith: 


104  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1832 

"On  the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  the  twins  before 
mentioned,  which  had  been  sick  with  measles  for  some 
time,  caused  us  to  be  broke  of  our  rest  in  taking  care 
of  them,  especially  my  wife.  In  the  evening  I  told 
her  she  had  better  retire  to  rest  with  one  of  the  chil- 
dren, and  I  would  watch  with  the  sickest  child.  In 
the  night  she  told  me  I  had  better  lay  down  on  the 
trundle-bed,  and  I  did  so,  and  was  soon  after  awoke 
by  her  screaming,  'Murder!'  when  I  found  myself  go- 
ing out  of  the  door,  in  the  hands  of  about  a  dozen  men ; 
some  of  whose  hands  were  in  my  hair,  and  some  hold 
of  my  shirt,  drawers,  and  limbs.  The  foot  of  the 
trundle-bed  was  towards  the  door,  leaving  only  room 
enough  for  the  door  to  swing.  My  wife  heard  a  gentle 
tapping  on  the  windows  which  she  then  took  no  par- 
ticular notice  of,  (but  which  was  unquestionably  de- 
signed for  ascertaining  whether  we  were  all  asleep,) 
and  soon  after  the  mob  burst  open  the  door  and  sur- 
rounded the  bed  in  an  instant,  and,  as  I  said,  the  first 
I  knew  I  was  going  out  of  the  door  in  the  hands  of  an 
infuriated  mob.  I  made  a  desperate 

Story  of   mob.  IT* 

struggle,  as  I  was  forced  out,  to  extri- 
cate myself,  but  only  cleared  one  leg,  with  which  I 
made  a  pass  at  one  man,  and  he  fell  on  the  doorsteps. 
I  was  immediately  confined  again;  and  they  swore  by 
God,  they  would  kill  me  if  I  did  not  be  still,  which 
quieted  me.  As  they  passed  around  the  house  with  me, 
the  fellow  that  I  kicked  came  to  me  and  thrust  his 
hand  into  my  face,  all  covered  with  blood.  .  .  . 


1832] 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


10.5 


Mobbing  of  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon. 

"They  then  seized  me  by  the  throat,  and  held  on  till 
I  lost  my  breath.  After  I  came  to,  as  they  passed 
along  with  me,  about  thirty  rods  from  the  house,  I 
saw  Elder  Rigdon  stretched  out  on  the  ground, 
whither  they  had  dragged  him  by  the  heels.  I  sup- 
posed he  was  dead. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1830 

"They  went  and  held  a  council,  and  as  I  could  oc- 
casionally overhear  a  word,  I  supposed  it  was  to  know 
whether  it  was  best  to  kill  me.  They  returned  after 
a  while,  when  I  learned  that  they  had  concluded  not  to 
kill  me  but  to  pound  and  scratch  me  well,  tear  off  my 
shirt  and  drawers,  and  leave  me  naked.  One  cried, 
'Simonds,  Simonds,  where's  the  tar  bucket?'  'I  don't 
know,'  answered  one,  'where  'tis,  Eli's  left  it.'  They 
ran  back  and  fetched  the  bucket  of  tar,  when  one  ex- 
claimed, '.  .  .  let  us  tar  up  his  mouth';  and  they  tried 
to  force  the  tar  paddle  into  my  mouth;  I  twisted  my 
head  around,  so  that  they  could  not;  and  they  cried 
out:  '.  .  .  hold  up  yer  head  and  let  us  give  you  some 
tar.'  They  then  tried  to  force  a  vial  into  my  mouth, 
and  broke  it  in  my  teeth.  All  my  clothes  were  torn 
off  me  except  my  shirt  collar ;  and  one  man  fell  on  me 
and  scratched  my  body  with  his  nails  like  a  mad  cat, 
and  then  muttered  out:  '.  .  .  that's  the  way  the  Holy 

Ghost  falls  on  folks.' 

\ 

"They  then  left  me,  and  I  attempted  to  rise,  but 
fell  again;  I  pulled  the  tar  away  from  my  lips,  etc., 
so  that  I  could  breathe  more  freely,  and  after  a  while 
I  began  to  recover,  and  raised  myself  up,  when  I  saw 
two  lights.  I  made  my  way  towards  one  of  them, 
and  found  it  was  Father  Johnson's.  When  I  had 
come  to  the  door,  I  wras  naked,  and  the  tar  made  me 
look  as  though  I  had  been  covered  with  blood,  and 
when  my  wife  saw  me  she  thought  I  was  all  mashed 


1832]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

to  pieces,  and  fainted.  During  the  affray  abroad  the 
sisters  of  the  neighborhood  had  collected  at  my  room. 
I  called  for  a  blanket ;  they  threw  me  one  and  shut  the 
door :  I  wrapped  it  around  me  and  went  in. 

"In  the  meantime,  Brother  John  Poorman  heard 
an  outcry  across  the  cornfield,  and  running  that  way 
met  Father  Johnson,  who  had  been  fastened  in  his 
house  at  the  commencement  of  the  assault,  by  having 
his  door  barred  by  the  mob,  but  on  calling  to  his  wife 
to  bring  his  gun,  saying  he  would  blow  a  hole  through 
the  door,  the  mob  fled,  and  Father  Johnson  seizing  a 
club  ran  after  the  party  that  had  Elder  Rigdon,  and 
knocked  one  man,  and  raised  his  club  to  level  another, 
exclaiming :  'What  are  you  doing  here  ?'  when  they  left 
Elder  Rigdon  and  turned  upon  Father  Johnson,  who, 
turning  to  run  towards  his  own  house,  met  Brother 
Poorman  coming  out  of  the  cornfield.  Each  suppos- 
ing the  other  to  be  a  mobber,  an  encounter  ensued,  and 
Poorman  gave  Johnson  a  severe  blow  on  the  left 
shoulder  with  a  stick  or  stone,  which  brought  him  to 
the  ground.  Poorman  ran  immediately  towards 
Father  Johnson's,  and  arriving  while  I  was  waiting 
for  tbe  blanket,  exclaimed:  'I'm  afraid  I've  killed 
him.'  'Killed  who?'  asked  one;  when  Poorman  hastily 
related  the  circumstances  of  the  encounter  near  the 
cornfield,  and  went  into  the  shed  and  hid  himself. 
Father  Johnson  soon  recovered  so  as  to  come  to  the 
house,  when  the  whole  mystery  was  quickly  solved 
concerning  the  difficulty  between  him  and  Poorman 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1832 

who,  on  learning  the  facts,  joyfully  came  from  his 
hiding  place. 

"My  friends  spent  the  night  in  scraping  and  re- 
moving the  tar,  and  washing  and  cleansing  my  body; 
so  that  by  morning  I  was  ready  to  be  clothed  again. 
This  being  Sabbath  morning,  the  people  assembled 
for  meeting  at  the  usual  hour  of  worship,  and  among 
them  came  also  the  mobbers;  viz:  Simonds  Rider,  a 
Campbellite  preacher,  and  leader  of  the  mob ;  one  Mc- 
Clentic,  son  of  a  Campbellite  minister;  and  Pelatiah 
Allen,  Esq.,  who  gave  the  mob  a  barrel  of  whisky  to 
raise  their  spirits;  and  many  others. 
With  my  flesh  a11  scarified  and  defaced, 
I  preached  to  the  congregation  as  usual, 
and  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  baptized  three 
individuals. 

"The  next  morning  I  went  to  see  Elder  Rigdon, 
and  found  him  crazy,  and  his  head  highly  inflamed, 
for  they  had  dragged  him  by  the  heels,  and  those  too 
so  high  from  the  earth  he  could  not  raise  his  head  from 
the  rough,  frozen  surface,  which  lacerated  it  exceed- 
ingly; .  .  .  and  he  continued  delirious  for  some  days. 
The  feathers  which  were  used  with  the  tar  on  this 
occasion,  the  mob  took  out  of  Elder  Rigdon's  house. 
After  they  had  seized  him  and  dragged  him  out,  one 
of  the  banditti  returned  to  get  some  pillows ;  when  the 
women  shut  him  in  and  kept  him  some  time. 

"During  the  mob,  one  of  the  twins  received  a  severe 
cold,  and  continued  to  grow  worse  till  Friday,  and 


1832]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

died."  It  was  the  little  boy  twin  who  died.  The  girl, 
named  Julia,  lived  to  womanhood  in  the  Smith  family, 
and  died  at  Nauvoo  in  1880,  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  James  Moffitt. 


110 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


[1832 


CHAPTER  25. 

President  of  the  Church  Ordained  and  Acknowledged  by  the 

People. 

AT  A  CONFERENCE  of  high  priests,  elders,  and  mem- 
bers, held  at  Amherst,  Ohio,  January  25,  1832,  Joseph 
Smith  had  been  ordained  president  of  the  high  priest- 
hood. On  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  April,  1832,  at  a 
general  council  of  the  church  in  Missouri,  he  was  ac- 
knowledged by  the  people  as  that  officer.  Bishop 

Partridge  gave  him  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship 
and  "the  scene  was  solemn 
and  impressive  and  de- 
lightful." 

This  was  the  fulfillment 
of  the  language  of  the  mes- 
senger declaring  that  Jos- 
eph was  to  be  the  first  offi- 
cer in  the  church.  The 
church  having  all  agreed  to 
this,  it  was  ready  to  accept 
the  name  of  the  other  coun- 
selor, which  was  given  by 
revelation  as  Frederick  G. 
Williams.  He  was  to  be  a 

counselor  to  the  first  elder  in  the  first  quorum  of  the 
church,  that  is  the  Presidency,  but  he  was  not  yet  or- 
dained. 


Frederick  G.  Williams. 


1832]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

There  was  much  business  for  the  leading  men  of  the 
church  to  settle  in  Missouri.  We  find  Joseph  Smith, 
April  28  and  29,  visiting  a  band  of  church  people 
"above  Blue  River"  in  Kaw  Township,  twelve  miles 
west  of  Independence;  and  following  him  through 
his  writings,  we  find  him  at  Independence  on  the 
thirtieth,  in  counsel  with  his  brethren,  and  on  May  1, 
1832,  they  met  in  council  and  it  was  "ordered  that 
three  thousand  copies  of  the  Book  of 
Commandments  be  printed  the  first 
edition."  The  committee  appointed 
to  prepare  the  revelations  for  the  press,  and  print 
them  was  W.  W.  Phelps,  Oliver  Cowdery,  and 
John  Whitmer.  These  were  to  be  printed  at  Inde- 
pendence, Missouri,  W.  W.  Phelps  &  Company,  pub- 
lishers. W.  W.  Phelps  was  given  the  work  of 
preparing  the  hymns,  selected  by  Emma  Smith,  for 
the  press. 

The  people  rejoiced,  too,  that  there  were  to  be  stores 
owned  by  the  church  in  Missouri  and  Ohio.  On  the 
sixth  day  of  May,  we  find  a  party  returning  to  Kirt- 
land,  in  which  were  Sidney  Rigdon,  Joseph  Smith, 
and  Bishop  Whitney.  Just  before  arriving  at  the 
falls  of  the  Ohio  River,  the  horses  ran  away.  While 
the  coach  was  being  dashed  along  at  great  speed,  some 
of  the  passengers  jumped  out.  Bishop  Whitney 
caught  his  foot  in  the  wheel,  and  had  his  foot  and  leg 
broken  in  several  places. 

They  took  him  to  a  tavern  in  Greenville,  where  Jos- 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1832 

eph  Smith  nursed  him  for  four  weeks,  and  Sidney 
Rigdon  hurried  on  to  Kirtland.  Elders  Smith  and 
Whitney  did  not  reach  Kirtland  until  some  time  in 
June,  when  the  ones  appointed  (who  were  Joseph 
Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon)  began  the  translating  of 
the  Scriptures  again. 


1832]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  26. 

First  Paper  Published  by  the  Church. 

IN  JULY,  1832,  the  church  in  Kirtland  received  the 
first  number  of  their  paper,  The  Evening  and  the 
Morning  Star.  There  was  great  rejoicing.  There 
now  appeared  to  be  an  excellent  way  of  letting  the 
world  know  the  truth  about  the  wonderful  things  the 
Lord  was  trying  to  do  for  the  people.  They  had  been 
treated  unfairly  by  the  papers  and  could  not  find  jus- 
tice or  help  in  any  of  them;  this  made  the  little  Even- 
ing and  Morning  Star  look  big  with  possibilities  for 
the  church. 

The  editors  of  this  paper  did  not  intend  to  meddle 
with  politics,  but  wanted  to  devote  it  to  religion  and 
good  morals,  poetry  and  prose.  We  can  give  an  idea 
of  its  way  of  treating  matters  by  quoting  in  a  foot- 
note a  short  portion  of  an  article  on  Common  Schools.1 

lfThe  disciples  should  lose  no  time  in  preparing  schools  for  their  chil- 
dren, that  they  may  be  taught  as  is  pleasing  unto  the  Lord,  and  brought 
up  in  the  way  of  holiness.  Those  appointed  to  select  and  prepare  books 
for  the  use  of  schools,  will  attend  to  that  subject,  as  soon  as  more 
weighty  matters  are  finished.  But  the  parents  and  guardians  in  the 
Church  of  Christ  need  not  wait — it  is  all  important  that  children,  to 
become  good  should  be  taught  so.  Moses,  while  delivering  the  words  of 
the  Lord  to  the  congregation  of  Israel,  the  parents,  says,  "And  these 
words  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thy  heart:  and  thou 
shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them 
when  thou  sittest  in  thy  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and 
when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up.  And  thou  shalt  bind 
them  for  a  sign  upon  thy  hand,  and  they  shall  be  as  frontlets  between 
thine  eyes."  If  it  were  necessary  then  to  teach  their  children  diligently, 
how  much  more  necessary  is  it  now,  when  the  Church  of  Christ  is  to  be  an 
ensign,  yea,  even  a  sample  to  the  world,  for  good?  A  word  to  the  wise 
ought  to  be  sufficient,  for  children  soon  become  men  and  women.  Yes, 


114 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


[1832 


Translating 
Bible. 


The  early  summer  of  1832  passed.  In  August  the 
elders  gathered  to  Kirtland.  On  September  22  and 
23,  1832,  was  given  to  them  the  revelation  "On  Priest- 
hood." This  important  revelation  was,  and  still  is 
very  instructive  and  comforting  to  those  who  are  work- 
ing under  great  trials  for  the  gospel's  sake.  Compar- 
ing this  revelation  with  the  work  of  Christ  and  his 
disciples,  we  find  they  stand  together  in  everything 
desirable. 

The  work  of  translating  the  Bible  by  inspiration 
went  on  through  the  summer  of  1832.     In  October, 
1832,  Joseph  Smith  took  a  trip  to  Al- 
bany, New  York,  and  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts, with  Bishop  Whitney. 
While  on  this  journey  he  wrote  to  his  wife  in  his 
usual  tender  and  faithful  way.    A  letter  written  Oc- 
tober 13,  1832,  and  dated 
at    New    York,    has    been 
kept,    and   is   now   in   the 
hands     of    his     grandson, 
Frederick    M.    Smith,    of 
Independence,      Missouri. 
This   letter   is,   of   course, 

Birthplace  of  "Little  Joseph."       highly    prized    for    many 

reasons  by  his  o\vi}  family, 
but  it  also  shows  good  and  lovable  things  in  this  man's 

they  are  they  that  must  follow  us,  and  perform  the  duties  which  not  only 
appertain  to  this  world,  but  to  the  second  coming  of  the  Savior,  even  pre- 
paring for  the  Sabbath  of  creation,  and  for  eternity. — Taken  from  Even- 
ing and  Morning  Star,  vol.  1,  pp.  7,  8. 


1833]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

character  that  the  church  will  find  a  help  to  them  in 
proving  his  honorable  and  virtuous  sentiments  toward 
his  wife,  and  his  supreme  trust  in  God. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Kirtland,  his  son  Joseph 
was  born.     This  was  the  fourth  child  born  to  Joseph 
and  Emma  Smith.     The  twins,  we  have 
mentioned,  and  a  little  son  having  died     Jjjjjjf  Joseph 
in  babyhood.    Little  Julia,  the  adopted 
twin  that  lived,  was  the  only  child  in  their  home.    The 
boy  born  on  this  sixth  day  of  November,  1832,  in  the 
little  town  of  Kirtland,  Ohio,  was  destined  to  fill  a 
very  important  place  in  the  history  of  the  church. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1832 


CHAPTER  27. 

The  War  of  Rebellion  Foretold  by  Joseph  Smith. 

ONE  of  the  most  remarkable  revelations  given  by 
this  Prophet  of  latter  days  was  given  on  Tuesday, 
December  25,  1832.  This,  you  notice,  was  on  Christ- 
mas Day: 

"Verily  thus  saith  the  Lord,  concerning  the  wars 
that  will  shortly  come  to  pass,  beginning  at  the  rebel- 
lion of  South  Carolina,  which  will  eventually  termi- 
nate in  the  death  and  misery  of  many  souls.  The  days 
will  come  that  war  will  be  poured  out  upon  all  nations, 
beginning  at  that  place;  for  behold,  the  Southern 
States  shall  be  divided  against  the  Northern  States, 
and  the  Southern  States  will  call  on  other  nations,  even 
the  nation  of  Great  Britain,  as  it  is  called,  and  they 
shall  also  call  upon  other  nations,  in  order  to  defend 
themselves  against  other  nations;  and  thus  war  shall 
be  poured  out  upon  all  nations.  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  after  many  days,  slaves  shall  rise  up  against  their 
masters,  who  shall  be  marshaled  and  disciplined  for 
war :  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  also,  that  the  remnants 
who  are  left  of  the  land  will  marshal  themselves,  and 
shall  become  exceeding  angry,  and  shall  vex  the  Gen- 
tiles with  a  sore  vexation;  and  thus,  with  the  sword, 
and  by  bloodshed,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  shall 
mourn;  and  with  famine,  and  plague,  and  earthquakes, 
and  the  thunder  of  heaven,  and  the  fierce  and  vivid 


1832]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

lightning  also,  shall  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  be 
made  to  feel  the  wrath,  and  indignation  and  chasten- 
ing hand  of  an  almighty  God,  until  the  consumption 
decreed,  hath  made  a  full  end  of  all  nations ;  that  the 
cry  of  the  saints,  and  the  blood  of  the  saints,  shall 
cease  to  come  up  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth, 
from  the  earth,  to  be  avenged  of  their  enemies. 
Wherefore,  stand  ye  in  holy  places,  and  be  not  moved, 
until  the  day  of  the  Lord  come ;  for  behold  it  cometh 
quickly,  saith  the  Lord.  Amen." 

Joseph  Smith  was  certain  that  these  things  would 
happen.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  N.  E.  Seaton,  editor  of  a 
paper  published  at  Rochester,  New  York,  he  said: 

"And  now  I  am  prepared  to  say  by  the  authority  of 
Jesus  Christ,  that  not  many  years  shall  pass  away  be- 
fore the  United  States  shall  present  such  a  scene  of 
bloodshed  as  has  not  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  our 
Nation;  pestilence,  hail,  famine,  and  earthquakes  will 
sweep  the  wicked  of  this  generation  from  off  the  face 
of  the  land,  to  open  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  return 
of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel  from  the  north  country. 
The  people  of  the  Lord,  those  who  have  complied  with 
the  requisitions  of  the  new  covenant,  have  already  com- 
menced gathering  together  to  Zion,  which  is  in  the 
State  of  Missouri;  therefore  I  declare  unto  you  the 
warning  which  the  Lord  has  commanded  me  to  de- 
clare unto  this  generation,  remembering  that  the  eyes 
of  my  Maker  are  upon  me,  and  that  to  him  I  am  ac- 
countable for  every  word  I  say,  wishing  nothing 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1832 

worse  to  my  fellow  men  than  their  eternal  salvation; 
therefore,  'fear  God  and  give  glory  to  him,  for  the 
hour  of  his  judgment  is  come.'  Repent  ye,  repent  ye, 
and  embrace  the  everlasting  covenant,  and  flee  to 
Zion  before  the  overflowing  scourge  overtake  you,  for 
there  are  those  now  living  upon  the  earth  whose  eyes 
shall  not  be  closed  in  death  until  they  see  all  these 
things,  which  I  have  spoken,  fulfilled.  Remember 
these  things ;  call  upon  the  Lord  while  he  is  near,  and 
seek  him  while  he  may  be  found,  is  the  exhortation  of 
your  unworthy  servant,  "JOSEPH  SMITH,  JR." 

-Taken  from  Times  and  Seasons,  vol.  5,  p.  707. 

Elder  John  Hyde  published  this  statement,  of  Jos- 
eph Smith's,  in  1857: 

"I  prophesy  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  God,  that  the 
commencement  of  the  difficulties  which  *will  cause 
War  to  begin  much  bloodshed,  previous  to  the  coming 
in  South  Caro-  of  the  Son  of  Man,  will  be  in  South 

hna. 

Carolina  (it  probably  may  arise  through 
the  slave  question)  ;  this  a  voice  declared  to  me,  while 
I  was  praying  earnestly  on  the  subject,  December 
25,  1832." 

These  words  were  spoken  publicly  three  years  be- 
fore the  secession  of  South  Carolina.  People  say  the 
Mormons  fixed  these  things  up  afterward,  but  it  is 
true  that  these  things  were  printed  in  the  English  lan- 
guage and  read  by  hundreds  at  a  time  when  war  was 
not  expected  by  the  Government  or  most  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States. 


1832]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  28. 

The  Church  in  Missouri  Warned  by  the  Lord. 

THE  CHURCH  in  Missouri  was  having  its  troubles, 
and  that  not  with  the  world.  The  trouble  was  among 
the  church  people.  A  council  of  twelve  high  priests 
at  Kirtland  appointed  Orson  Hyde  and  Hyrum 
Smith  as  a  committee  to  write  to  them.  Joseph  Smith 
also  wrote  them,  begging  them  to  do  right,  and  telling 
them  that  unless  they  did,  he  "trembled  for  Zion." 

The  epistle  of  the  committee  is  plain  and  not  to  be 
misunderstood.  The  Saints  of  Latter  Days,  as  they 
called  themselves,  were  forgetting  the  commandments. 
Some  were  ambitious,  some  light-minded  and  boastful. 
The  committee  entreated  them  to  earnestness  and 
purity  and  humility.  The  bishop  was  to  read  this 
letter  to  the  people.  They  were  not  to  be  idle  and  neg- 
lect the  things  of  God.  Joseph  had  told  them,  "If  the 
people  of  Zion  did  not  repent,  the  Lord  would  seek 
another  place  and  another  people." 

The  committee  explained  this  clause:  "Zion  is  the 
place  where  the  temple  will  be  built,  and  the- people 
gathered,  but  all  people  upon  that  holy  land  being 
under  condemnation,  the  Lord  will  cut  off,  if  they 
repent  not,  and  bring  another  raceoipon  it,  that  will 
serve  him.  The  Lord  will  seek  another  place  to  bring 
forth  and  prepare  his  word  to  go  forth  to  the  nations." 

These  words  of  warning  and  counsel  make  us  won- 


120  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

der  what  might  have  been  the  story  now  written  of 
these  people  had  they  kept  all  the  laws  and  command- 
ments of  God.  We  are  interested  in  the  story  as  it  is 
written  in  the  world  to-day,  a  story  full  of  tragedy  and 
pathos,  romance  and  wonder,  seldom  told  truthfully, 
and  once  told  never  forgotten. 

The  winter  of  1832,  the  translating  of  the  Scrip- 
tures went  steadily  on  until  on  the  second  day  of 
February,    1833,   the   New   Testament 

Translating 

New  Testa-         was  all  translated,  and  the  manuscript 

ment  finished.  •    ••  , 

was  sealed  up,  no  more  to  be  opened 
until  it  arrived  in  Zion,"  the  Prophets,  or  Old  Testa- 
ment translation  being  yet  incomplete.  That  part  of 
the  old  Bible  known  as  the  Apocrypha  they  were  com- 
manded not  to  translate,  not  because  it  was  all  correct, 
for  the  Lord  said  most  of  it  was  translated  correctly. 
Some  of  the  things  as  put  in  by  man  were  not  true. 
It  was  not  needful  to  translate  this  part  of  the  Old 
Scripture,  but  the  rest  of  the  Old  Scripture  they  were 
•to  translate. 

"Word  of  Wisdom"  is  the  name  given  to  a  revela- 
tion received  Wednesday,  February  27,  1833.  It 
gives  instruction  regarding  the  food  and  drink  of 

man  and  beast.  Men  who  have  studied 
w?sddomf.  the  effect  of  certain  foods  and  drinks  in 

the  light  of  science  and  understanding 
have  shown  that  there  is  a  wonderful  amount  of  truth 
in  this  Word  of  Wisdom  given  through  a  man  who  had 


1833]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

little  learning  or  knowledge  of  the  study  of  these 
things. 

March  8,  1833,  the  Quorum  of  the  Presidency  is 
again  mentioned,  and  Sidney  Rigdon  and  Frederick 
G.  Williams  named  as  the  counselors  to  the  President, 
they  being  equal  with  Joseph  Smith  in  authority;  and 
on  the  eighteenth  day  of  March  the  high  priests  as- 
sembled in  the  "schoolroom  of  the  prophets"  in  Kirt- 
land,  Ohio,  and  were  organized  according  to  revela- 
tion. 

Doctor  Hurlbut  was  ordained  an  elder.     Sidney 
Rigdon  asked  for  the  ordination  of  himself  and  Fred- 
erick G.  Williams  to  the  office  of  coun- 
selors according  to  the  revelation.    Jos-     ^^ed!" 
eph  Smith  ordained  them  to  take  part 
with  him  in  the  Presidency.    A  promise  was  made  that 
the  pure  in  heart  would  see  a  heavenly  vision,  and  the 
promise  was  true,  for  many  did  have  their  understand- 
ing increased  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  so  as  to  behold 
many  things. 

They  then  partook  of  the  sacrament,  and  many  tes- 
tified that  they  saw  a  heavenly  vision  of  Christ  the 
Savior,  and  angels,  and  many  things,  and  we  read, 
"Each  one  has  a  record  of  what  they  saw."  Would 
you  not  like  to  see  these  records? 

March  23,  a  council  met  to  appoint  a  committee  to 
purchase  land  in  Kirtland  to  build  up  a  stake  of  Zion. 
Joseph  Coe  and  Moses  Daley  were  sent  to  find  the 
price  of  certain  farms,  and  Ezra  Thayre  to  see  about 


122  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

Peter  French's  farm.  While  they  were  gone,  the 
meeting  continued,  praying  and  fasting  for  the  suc- 
cess of  their  mission. 

In  about  three  hours,  the  committee  returned  and 
reported.  The  council  decided  to  purchase  the  farms, 
and  appointed  Ezra  Thayre  and  Joseph  Coe  to  buy 
the  land,  and  "They  were  ordained  by  Sidney  Rigdon 
and  set  apart  as  general  agents  of  the  church  for  that 
purpose." 

While  these  things  were  being  enacted  at  Kirtland, 
the  Saints  in  Missouri  were  also  busy.  They  had  re- 
ceived the  letter  and  epistle  from  the  church  at  Kirt- 
land, and  had  held  a  solemn  meeting.  They  sincerely 
repented  of  wrongdoing,  and  on  the  twenty-sixth  day 
of  February  a  letter  had  been  written  and  sent  by  the 
conference  to  the  Saints  in  Missouri,  comforting  and 
satisfying  them. 

March  26,  1833,  they  held  a  council.  Seven  high 
priests  sent  from  Kirtland  were  standing  at  the  head 
of  affairs  relating  to  the  church  in  Missouri.  These 
were  Oliver  Cowdery,  W.  W.  Phelps,  John  Whitmer, 
Sidney  Gilbert,  Bishop  Partridge,  and  his  two  coun- 
selors. These  seven  men  were  appointed  presidents 
over  the  branches,  but  as  men  of  the  priesthood  came 
into  Zion,  they  sometimes  used  as  much  authority  as 
those  appointed. 

The  council  was  called  to  regulate  these  things  and 
get  an  understanding  of  the  law.  The  elders  soon 


1833]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

saw  the  beauty  of  every  man's  working  in  his  own 
place,  and  felt  that  their  duty  was  more  to  call  the 
people  to  God  and  his  work,  and  all 

,     ,  ,  ,          T     .  ,      f   ,       Every   man  in 

was  settled  peaceably.     It  is  wonderl ul     his  own  place, 
that  these  men  did  so  rqadily  fall  into 
order  and  learn  to  honor  these  laws  of  organization. 
On  the  sixth  day  of  April,  1833,  the  church  in  the 
land  of  Zion  met   to   celebrate   the   birthday   of   the 


Along  the  Blue,  a  fringe  of  shrubs  and  trees. 

church.  The  church  was  just  three  years  old  that  day. 
The  meeting  was  held  at  the  ferry  of  the  Big  Blue 
River,  near  the  western  limits  of  Jackson  County, 
Missouri,  which  was  then  the  western  border  of  the 
State  of  Missouri  and  that  part  of  the  United  States. 
Spring  in  southern  Missouri  is  like  a  glimpse  of 
paradise,  truly.  The  earth  gives  forth  perfume;  the 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

buds  and  leaves  are  opening;  the  sky  bends  blue  and 
promising  over  all.  Along  the  Blue  River  a  border 
of  different  kinds  of  shrubs  and  trees  forms  a  vari- 
colored fringe  to  the  muddy  banks.  Ah,  those  who 
know  Missouri  in  her  pleasant  moods  can  guess  the 
hopes  and  joys  of  this  people  far  from  their  native 
places. 

April  2,  1833,  in  Kirtland,  the  council  met  and 
appointed  F.  G.  Williams  as  agent  to  rent  the  French 
farm  and  superintend  the  brickyard,  and  men  hired 
to  make  the  brick.  This  farm  was  a  very  choice  prop- 
erty. It  had  a  stone  quarry  on  it,  and  the  facilities  for 
making  brick,  and  these  were  to  be  used  largely  in  the 
building  of  the  city  of  Kirtland.  The  church  had  also 
bought,  by  hand  of  Ezra  Thayre,  the  tannery  of 
Arnold  Mason  in  Kirtland. 

In  a  letter  dated  March  21,  1833,  at  Kirtland,  Ohio, 
Joseph  Smith  commends  the  good  spirit  shown  by  the 
brethren  in  Zion;  urging  the  care  of  the  poor  who 
were  pure  in  heart,  and  saying  further,  "It  is  not  the 
will  of  the  Lord  to  print  any  of  the  New  Translation 
in  the  Star;  but  when  it  is  published,  it  will  all  go  to  the 
world  together,  in  a  volume  by  itself,  and  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Book  of  Mormon  will  be  printed 
together." 


1833]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  125 


CHAPTER  29. 

Condition  of  People  in  Missouri  and  Ohio. 

THE  PEOPLE  were  gathering  from  many  parts  of 
the  country  then  inhabited,  to  Zion  in  Missouri,  and 
to  Kirtland, — active,  energetic,  hopeful  people.  Of 
course,  there  may  have  been  some  who  were  overzeal- 
ous,  and  some  who  were  ambitious  for  a  little  power 
and  a  little  land;  but  the  history  will  bear  out  the 
assertion  that  it  was  a  God-fearing,  good-loving,  God- 
serving  people  who  represented  the  church,  in  both 
Missouri  and  Ohio. 

The  disagreements  among  themselves  were  not 
serious  in  their  immediate  results,  and  although  men 
and  women  were  put  to  fearful  tests,  there  were  few 
indeed  who  were  not  loyal  to  their  belief  in  the  divinity 
of  this  church  built  on  the  eternal  foundation  of  that 
old  one  of  Christ  the  Lord.  Whether  there  was  cause 
for  the  wicked  and  diabolical  treatment  of  this  people 
by  the  raging  mobs  will  be  left  for  the  reader  to  judge. 

In  April,  1833,  this  mob  did  gather  in  Independ- 
ence, making  plans  to  drive  the  church  immediately 
and  violently  from  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri.   There  were  about  three  hundred     ^dependence, 
men  in  this  mob,  and  what  with  much 
liquor  and  such  an  unholy  cause,  they  could  not  agree 
and  broke  up  in  a  fight  among  themselves. 

In  Kirtland,  the  church  met  in  council,  having  need 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

of  a  house  to  hold  meetings  in.  A  schoolhouse  for  the 
elders  to  meet  in  and  receive  instruction,  preparing 
them  for  their  ministry,  was  decided  upon.  Hyrum 
Smith,  Jared  Carter,  and  Reynolds  Cahoon  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  obtain  means  for  building  this 
house. 

Revelations  were  given  of  a  high  and  educational 
order  and  urging  the  messengers  who  were  to  do  His 
work  to  "Make  haste!"  to  tell  the  gospel  to  the  people. 
Time  seemed  precious  indeed,  and  was  not  to  be  trifled 
away.  The  translation  of  the  Scriptures  was  to  be 
hurried  and  they  were  to  study,  obtain- 
inS  a  knowledge  of  history  and  coun- 
tries and  kingdoms  and  laws,  both  of 
God  and  man;  all  for  the  salvation  of  Zion.  The 
preparation  for  the  building  of  the  Temple  now  be- 
gan. There  was  a  meeting  of  the  high  priests  held  in 
the  "translating  room."  The  Lord  had  told  them  the 
size  they  were  to  build  the  Temple,  fifty-five  feet  wide 
and  sixty-five  feet  long  on  the  inside.  The  conference 
appointed  the  men  of  the  Presidency  a  committee  to 
get  a  draft  or  plan  of  the  inside  of  the  house. 

June  6,  1833,  there  was  a  conference  called  to  coun- 
sel the  committee  who  had  been  appointed  to  take 
oversight  of  the  building  of  the  house.  They  voted 
that  the  committee,  Reynolds  Cahoon,  Jared  Carter, 
and  Hyrum  Smith,  proceed  to  build  the  house  by  ob- 
taining material  for  it.  There  were  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  of  the  church  in  Kirtland  at  this  time. 


1833]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  127 

There  were  some  who  were  still  urging  the  printing  of 
the  translation  of  the  Scriptures;  to  these  Joseph 
Smith  replied  by  letter  to  "W.  W.  Phelps  and  others 
in  Zion." 

"In  regarding  to  the  printing  of  the  New  Trans- 
lation,   it   can   not   be   done   until   we 
can  attend  to  it  ourselves,  and  this  we     T^nsla?kS!.red 
will  do  as  soon  as  the  Lord  permits." 

In  a  letter  dated  July  2,  1833,  written  to  the  breth- 
ren in  Zion,  Sidney  Rigdon  says: 

"Having  finished  the  translation  of  the  Bible  a  few 
hours  since,  and  needing  some  recreation,  we  know  of 
no  way  we  can  spend  our  time  more  to  divine  accept- 
ance than  endeavoring  to  build  up  Zion,  in  these  last 
days,  as  we  are  not  willing  to  idle  any  time  away  which 
can  be  spent  to  useful  purposes.  Doors  are  opening 
continually  for  proclaiming;  the  spirit  of  bitterness 
among  the  people  is  fast  subsiding,  and  a  spirit  of  in- 
quiry is  taking  its  place.  .  .  .  We  hope,  our  brethren, 
that  the  greatest  freedom  and  friendliness  will  exist 
between  you  and  the  Bishop,  not  withholding  from 
each  other  any  information  from  us,  but  communicate 
with  the  greatest  freedom,  lest  you  should  produce 
evils  of  a  serious  character,  and  the  Lord  become  of- 
fended ;  for  know  assuredly,  if  we,  by  our  wickedness, 
bring  evil  on  our  owri  heads,  the  Lord  will  let  us  bear 
it  till  we  get  weary  and  hate  iniquity." 

Such  counsel  as  this  seems  good  for  all  time.  We 
notice  with  pleasure  that  the  Bible  is  at  last  trans- 


128  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

lated  by  the  inspiration  of  God.  This  work  was  com- 
menced in  June,  1830,  and  it  must  have  been  dili- 
inspired  gently  pursued  whenever  possible,  for 

Translation  of     the  work  accomplished  by  these  men, 

Bible   finished.  J 

Smith  and  Kigdon,  outside  of  this  trans- 
lation, is  great  enough.  How  was  it  done?  Not  by 
wisdom  and  knowledge  of  those  men.  Nay!  True, 
they  were  expected  to  use  their  own  mental  and  physi- 
cal powers,  and  being  so  willing  to  do,  they  were  made 
agents  of  the  Almighty,  and  by  his  power  inspired  to 
do  this  thing,  and  now  it  was  finished  and  ready  for 
the  printer. 

It  was  guarded  and  kept  carefully  by  Emma  Smith. 
Long  after  her  husband  slept  in  an  unknown  but 

honored  grave,  she  stood  between  it  and 

those  who  by  eveiT  means  sought  to 
turn  to  filthiness  the  work  of  this  man. 
We  will  leave  it  thus;  guarded  by  this  lady  until  the 
day  when  she  should  yield  it  up  as  an  unimpeachable 
witness  against  the  testimony  of  his  traducers  and 
false  brethren.  The  Lord  had  said  it  shall  be  kept  in 
safety,  and  further  reading  will  show  that  it  was  ready 
when  most  needed. 

In  July,  1833,  the  mob  in  Missouri  began  to  trouble 
the  church. 


1833]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  129 


CHAPTER  30. 

The  Work   of   Enemies  in   Missouri. 

AT  THIS  time  there  was 
much  said  in  all  papers 
about  the  colored  people, 
—both  the  free  and  those 
in  slavery.  The  church  pa- 
per, The  Evening  and  the 
Morning  Star,  did  not 

A  waterway  in  Jackson  County.  disCUSS      these      questions, 

but  printed  a  copy  of  the  Missouri  Constitution. 

Among  those  who  influenced  the  mob  were  minis- 
ters, sent  by  missionary  societies  to  preach  to  the  In- 
dians or  the  people  settling  these  wild 
lands.  These  people  were  many  of 
them  ignorant  and  rough,  though  some 
were  hospitable  and  kind  in  a  rough  way.  P.  P.  Pratt 
tells  of  men  and  women  whose  only  clothing  was  that 
made  of  the  skins  of  animals.  There  were,  of  course, 
among  them  people  both  cultured  and  refined. 

Their  principal  way  of  travel  in  this  land  was  horse- 
back by  land,  and  canoes  on  the  water.  The  sheep, 
cattle,  and  hogs  were  of  strong  but  not  fine  breeds. 
We  must  remember  this  was  a  new  country,  and  the 
ways  of  living  were  very  simple  and  poor.  Yet  we  do 
not  find  that  the  men,  like  governors  and  judges  and 
lawyers,  teachers  and  preachers,  were  less  cruel  or 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

willing  to  be  more  just  than  these  rough,  unlearned 
frontiersmen  of  the  prairie  and  forests  of  this  beau- 
tiful Western  State.  One  man  named  Pixley,  a  man 
sent  on  a  mission  to  the  Indians  by  a  missionary  so- 
ciety, wrote  false  and  horrible  accounts  of  the  church 
and  sent  them  to  papers  in  the  East  to  turn  the  minds 
of  the  people  against  the  church,  and  he  went  from 
house  to  house  and  to  the  Indians,  telling  his  false 
stories  and  turning  men  against  the  church  people. 

The  Evening  and  the  Morning  Star  was  mild  and 
careful  in  the  things  it  published,  and  devoted  itself 
to  the  things  that  would  help  men  to  better  ways  of 
living.  In  their  July  issue  there  appeared  a  letter 
from  the  "Elders  in  Zion,"  addressed  "to  the  churches 
abroad."  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  public  letters 
every  read;  both  in  spirit  and  letter  there  appears  a 
kind,  earnest,  loving  desire  to  do  right,  and  help  others 
to  do  so.  Who  the  author  is  we  can  not  say,  but  W. 
W.  Phelps  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  with  John  Whitmer, 
were  the  committee  on  literary  matters  in  Zion  at  this 
time. 

This  letter  urges  the  Saints  to  be  industrious  and 
pay  all  debts,  and  to  keep  the  law  of  the  land.  They 
were  to  be  frugal  and  prudent,  and  a  special  caution 
was  made  against  people  leaving  homes  and  lands  in 
other  places  and  rushing  to  Zion.  They  were  to  sell 
before  they  came,  so  they  might  buy  homes  here,  for 
the  way  the  church  was  to  be  started  in  this  land,  was 
"by  purchase." 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

Altogether  the  instruction  was  careful  and  wise. 
They  did  not  object  to  the  poor  coming.  No.  Zion 

a  for  the  poor,  but  they  needed  enough  who  were 
not  poor  to  be  able  to  care  for  those  less  fortunate. 

The  Saints  resolved  to  appeal  to  the  governor  for 
protection  from  the  lawless  mobbers  who  were  brick- 
batting  their  houses,  stealing  their  cattle,  and  threat- 
ening their  lives.  A  document  was 
written  and  signed  and  sent  to  the  gov- 
ernor.  In  it  appears  the  copy  of  an- 
other document,  one  sent  out  by  those  people  who  were 
opposed  to  the  Saints,  in  favor  of  the  action  of  the 
mob.  "Among  the  hundreds  of  names  attached  to  the 
document  were:  Lewis  Franklin,  jailer;  Samuel  C. 
Owens,  county  clerk;  Russel  Hicks,  deputy  clerk;  R. 
\V.  Cummins,  Indian  agent;  Jones  H.  Flourney, 
postmaster:  S.  D.  Lucas,  colonel  and  judge  of  the 
court;  Henry  Child's,  attorney  at  law;  N.  K.  Olm- 
stead.  M.  D. ;  John  Smith,  j.  p. ;  Samuel  Weston,  j.  p. ; 
U  illiam  Brown,  constable;  Abner  F.  Staples,  cap- 
tain; Thomas  Pitcher,  deputy  constable;  Moses  G. 
Wilson,  Thomas  Wilson,  merchants." 

You  will  discover  these  are  men  of  importance  and 
influence  in  a  community,  and  according  to  the  agree- 
ment of  these,  and  near  a  hundred  others,  there  was  a 
meeting  held  in  Missouri  to  make  plans  to  drive  the 
Saints  from  Jackson  County. 

In  the  petition  or  paper  to  the  governor  were  these 
words: 


132 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


[1833 


"On  Saturday,  the  twentieth  of  July  last,  according 
to  the  foregoing  document,  there  assembled  suddenly 
in  the  town  of  Independence  at  the  courthouse  be- 
tween four  and  five  hundred  persons  who  sent  Robert 
Johnson,  James  Campbell,  Moses  Wilson,  Joel  F. 
Childs,  Richard  Bristoe,  Lewis  Franklin,  Russell 
Hicks,  S.  D.  Lucas,  Thomas  Wilson,  and  Richard 
Simpson,  to  some  of  your  petitioners;  namely,  Ed- 
ward Partridge,  A.  S.  Gilbert,  John  Corrill,  •  Isaac 


Courthouse   at   Independence,   Missouri,   in    1830. 

Morley,  John  Whitmer,  and  W.  W.  Phelps,  and  de- 
manded that  we  should  immediately  stop  the  publica- 
tion of  The  Evening  and  the  Morning  Star,  and  close 
the  printing  press  in  Jackson  County,  and  that  we  as 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

elders  of  said  church  should  agree  to  remove  out  of  the 
county  forthwith.  We  asked  for  three  months,  for 
consider ation.  They  would  not  grant  it.  We  asked 
for  ten  days.  They  would  not  grant  it  but  said  fifteen 
minutes  was  the  longest,  and  refused  to  hear  any  rea- 
sons. Of  course  the  conversation  broke  up. 

"The  four  or  five  hundred  persons,  as  a  mob,  then 
proceeded  to  demolish  or  raze  to  the  ground  the  print- 
ing office  and  dwelling  house  of  W.  W.  Phelps  & 
Company.  Mrs.  Phelps,  with  a  sick  infant  child  and 
the  rest  of  her  children,  together  with  the  furniture  in 
the  house,  were  thrown  outdoors,  the  pre^s  was  broken, 
the  type  pied,  the  book  work,  furniture,  apparatus, 
property,  etc.,  of  the  office  were  principally  destroyed 
and  the  office  thrown  down,  whereby  seven  hands  were 
thrown  out  of  employment  and  three  families  left  des- 
titute of  the  means  of  subsistence."  Edward  Partridge 
and  a  man  named  Allen  were  painted 
with  tar  and  coated  with  feathers  in  the  ™£*  ran' 
presence  of  the  mob,  and  much  to  the 
delight  of  the  mob.  This  happened  near  to  the  court- 
house. The  next  day  [July  23]  the  mob  came  again 
and  threatened  to  whip  some  of  the  Saints.  Edward 
Partridge,  John  Corrill,  W.  W.  Phelps,  John  Whit- 
mer,  A.  S.  Gilbert,  and  Isaac  Morley  offered  them- 
selves to  the  mob,  and  tried  to  get  the  mob  to  let  the 
Saints  go  and  just  whip  them  or  even  kill  them  if  it 
would  save  the  Saints,  but  the  mob  would  not  do  this. 

The  action  of  the  leaders  in  offering  themselves  to 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [183b 

be  whipped  or  killed  to  save  the  rest  of  the  church  is 
one  of  bravery  and  devotion,  and  showed  that  these 
men  were  truly  sincere  in  their  love  for  humanity  and 
right.  There  was  an  agreement  made  between  men 
chosen  by  the  citizens  of  Jackson  County  and  the 
church  leaders,  Oliver  Cowdery,  W.  W.  Phelps,  Wil- 
liam E.  McLellin,  Edward  Partridge,  Lyman  Wight, 
Simeon  Carter,  Peter  and  John  Whitmer,  and 
Harvey  Whitlock  were  to  move  their  families  out  of 
the  county  before  the  first  of  January.  They  were  all 
to  use  their  influence  to  remove  all  the  church  people 
—half  by  January  1,  and  all  by  the  first  of  April, 
1834.  They  were  to  stop,  if  possible,  all  church  people 
coming  into  the  country.  John  Corrill  and  A.  S.  Gil- 
bert were  to  remain  as  agents  to  wind  up  the  church 
business.  The  church  was  not  to  bring  any  more 
goods  into  the  store,  and  could  sell  what  they  had. 

The  Star  was  not  to  be  published  there  any  more. 
Edward  Partridge  and  W.  W.  Phelps  were  to  come 
and  go  after  their  families  were  moved,  until  all  busi- 
ness was  finished,  and  the  Missourians  promised  them 
they  should  be  protected  if  they  did  these  things.  All 
these  actions  were  told  in  the  petition  sent  to  the  gov- 
ernor of  Missouri,  Daniel  Dunklin.  The  governor 
answered,  telling  them  to  appeal  to  the  county  officers, 
and  if  they  did  not  do  their  duty,  he  was  to  be  told 
about  it,  and  he  would  at  once  attend  to  the  case. 


1833]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  31. 

The  Exodus  from  Jackson  County  Begins. 

THE  SAINTS  were  strongly  opposed  to  slavery,  and 
Missouri  at  this  time  was  a  slave  State.     It  was  law- 
ful to  buy  and  sell  slaves  as  they  would  hogs  or  horses, 
in  Missouri.     The  Saints,  as  a  church, 
did  not  meddle  with  these  laws,  but  the     ^ers^6" 
elders  urged  the  Saints  to  be  prudent 
and  careful,  and  to  shun  every  appearance  of  evil. 

The  Saints  began  to  move  out  of  the  county.  Some 
tried  to  live  in  Van  Buren  County,  but  were  driven  out 
without  mercy.  In  October,  the  mob  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  their  agreement,  for  they  marched  about 
eight  miles  west  of  town  and  tore  the  roofs  from  ten 
houses,  and  beat  the  men  and  frightened  the  women 
and  children  until  they  ran  screaming  and  crying  into 
the  woods.  Their  furniture  was  scattered  and  broken, 
and  their  homes  ruined.  The  morning  found  them 
homeless  and  terrified,  the  men  bleeding  and  wounded. 

This  was  not  all  the  story;  ah,  no!  There  were 
about  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  this  mob.  In  the 
beautiful  city  of  Independence  a  scene  as  unholy  and 
cruel  was  being  enacted.  Houses  were  stoned,  doors 
and  windows  broken  open,  and  furniture  ruined.  Sid- 
ney Gilbert's  house  was  partly  torn  down,  and  the 
sick  mistreated  there.  The  store  was  broken  open 
and  the  goods  strewn  in  the  street.  Long  poles  were 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

thrust  into  the  windows  of  houses.  The  Saints  asked 
the  officers,  who  had  been  chosen  to  see  that  justice 
was  done,  to  help  them,  but  these  officers  refused  to 
do  anything.  One  of  them,  Judge  Ryland,  told  them 
to  "fight  and  kill  the  mob."  The  mob  renewed  the 
attack  on  the  Saints  in  the  country  the  following 
Monday. 

A  battle  was  the  result,  for  the  brethren  had  armed 
themselves  to  protect  the  women  and  children.  The 
mob  was  driven  away,  two  of  them  being  killed,  and 
a  number  of  horses  shot.  A  young  man  named 
Barber,  of  the  church  people,  died  the  next  day.  One 
of  the  mob  who  fell  was  a  lawyer  named  Brazeale.  He 
had  boasted  that  he  would  "wade  to  his  knees  in 
blood  or  drive  the  Mormons  from  the  county."  The 
other  man  was  named  Thomas  Linville. 

There  was  great  excitement  and  all  kinds  of  rumors 
were  carried  to  the  settlers.  Many  cruel  things  were 
done  by  the  mob.  It  was  November  5,  1833,  when  the 
militia  appeared.  This  band  of  men  was  commanded 
by  Colonel  Pitcher,  by  consent  of  Lieutenant- Gover- 
nor Boggs.  It  was  in  fact  composed  of  rough  and 
lawless  men- — many  of  them  the  leaders 
GKe  up  arms.  of  the  mob.  The  Saints  gave  up  their 
arms,  and  some  of  them  were  taken 
prisoners  for  the  murder  of  the  men  shot  in  the  fight, 
but  they  were  not  kept  long. 

The  church  people  were  trying  to  get  out  of  the 
county  now.  They  had  to  get  a  permit  from  the  mob 


1833]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

if  they  hoped  to  go  unmolested.  Some  were  driven 
like  foxes  or  rabbits  to  the  open  prairie.  One  party 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  women  and  children 
wandered  on  these  prairies  several  days  without  food 
or  shelter.  Men  were  shot  at  or  tied  up  and  whipped. 
Some  piled  what  goods  they  could  in  wagons  and 

moved  out.    Others  es-    , 

caped  by  boats  down 
the  Blue  River,  and 
others  over  the  Mis- 
souri. Husbands  were 
hunting  for  wives  and 
children,  children  were 

Country  east  of  Independence, 

trying  to  find  parents,  Missouri. 

and    sorrowr    and    confusion    and    terror    reigned. 

Grain  was  left  growing  in  the  field,  crops  ungath- 
ered,  and  cattle  in  the  yard;  orchards  were  broken 
down,  and  fences  burned;  stacks  of  wheat  and  grain 
were  burned,  while  their  owners  wandered  hungry 
and  homeless.  In  Van  Bur  en  and  Lafayette  coun- 
ties, these  hunted  people  found  no  resting  place.  Clay 
County  was  kinder,  and  many  of  them  settled  there 
for  a  season.  The  governor  made  an  effort  to  settle 
things,  but  the  mobbers  drove  the  attorney  general  and 
his  escort  out  of  the  county.  The  governor  ordered 
the  mob  to  restore  the  guns  to  the  Saints,  but  it  was 
never  done. 

Two  hundred  and  three  houses  were  burned.  Ly- 
man  Wight  hunted  for  three  weeks  for  his  family,  and 


138  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

found  them  in  a  rag-carpet  tent  on  the  banks  of  the 
Missouri.     Here,  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  Decem- 

Baby    born    in      bei%  1833>  his  little  SOn  WaS  born'      This 

rag  carpet  child  lived  to  be  a  good  and  faithful 

man   and   a   defender  'of   Latter   Day 
Saint  doctrine. 

Lyman  Wight  was  one  of  the  men  named  in  the 
agreement  who  was  to  go  in  safety  if  he  would  go  by 
January  1,  1834.  This  man,  Wight,  was  a  big,  strong 
man,  both  in  body  and  mind.  He  was  without  fear, 

and  this  cruelty  to  his  family 
was  hard  to  bear,  as  it  no 
doubt  was  with  many  others. 
We  shall  watch  for  him  again 
in  our  story  of  these  people. 
Independence,  the  city  of 
hope  to  the  church  people, 
was  a  scene  of  confusion  dur- 
ing these  times.  Bolts  of 
calico  and  other  goods  were 
unrolled  and  l#y  in  strips  of 
Near  the  old  landing.  many  yards  about  the  square ; 
mechanics'  tools  were  scattered,  and  the  blacksmith's 
bellows  cut ;  and  down  on  the  Temple  Lot,  among  the 
forest  of  native  trees  that  then  covered  it,  were  piled 
the  household  goods  of  many  of  the  church  people. 

You  will  remember  how  the  mob  had  in  July  put 
Edward  Partridge  and  Elder  Allen  to  shame  and  suf- 
fering by  coating  them  with  tar  and  putting  feathers 


1833] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


139 


over  it.  The  minds  of  these  mobbers  seemed  to  be  full 
of  mean  and  wicked  things,  for  this  tar  was  mixed  with 
lime,  or  potash,  something  that  eats  the  flesh,  and  these 
men  suffered  torture  because  of  it.  Edward  Partridge 
declared  afterward,  "I  was  so  filled  with  the  Spirit 
and  love  of  God  that  I  had  no  hatred  towards  my 
persecutors  or  anyone  else." 

And  what  did  the  lieutenant  governor  say?  The 
man  next  in  power  to  the  governor,  Lilburn  W. 
Boggs,  after  secretly  helping  all  this  lawlessness,  said 
to  these  suffering  people:  "You  now  know  what  our 
Jackson  boys  can  do,  and  you  must  leave  the  county." 
And  the  justices  and 
judges,  and  sheriffs 
and  constables  and  of- 
ficers of  every  name 
joined  with  the  mob, 
and  there  were  minis- 
ters, too,  in  it,  with 
names  of  McCay,  and 
Kavanaugh,  Hunter. 
Fitzhugh,  P  i  x  1  e  y, 
Likens,  Lovelady,  and 
B  o  g  a  r  d,  declaring, 
"The  Mormons  ought 


The  old  landing  on  the  Missouri,  near 
Independence,  Missouri. 


to  be  destroyed,"  and  the  registrar  of  the  land  office, 
the  Reverend  Finis  Ewing,  at  Lexington,  forty  miles 
east,  lent  his  power  to  the  mobbers,  and  there  was  not 


140  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1833 

at  any  time  one  thing  to  prove  that  the  Saints  or 
"Mormons"  had  broken  one  law. 

While  the  Saints  were  in  camp  in  huts  and  tents 
made  from  bedding  or  carpets,  or  many  of  them  with- 
out protection  of  any  kind,  they  wit- 
sta°rl.er  °f  nessed  the  wonderful  "shower  of  stars." 

This  was  the  morning  of  November  13, 
1833.  The  accounts  of  this  night  are  many  and  inter- 
esting. The  whole  heavens  appeared  to  be  full  of 
shooting,  twisting  stars,  some  like  meteors,  and  some 
like  "large  drops  of  rain  in  sunshine."  The  streaks  of 
brightness  would  twist  and  turn  like  serpents.  They 
appeared  to  fall  to  the  earth  and  be  seen  no  more. 

Years  after  these  things  happened  to  the  Saints  in 
Jackson  County,  that  country  was  swept  by  a  terrible 
destruction.  Armed  men  rode  through  the  land,  burn- 
ing property  and  killing  people,  and  carrying  away 
their  precious  things.  Some  of  the  homes  taken  from 
the  Saints  were  burned  in  that  terrible  Border  War 
in  Missouri,  and  the  Missourians  were  driven  as  they 
had  driven  the  Saints  twenty  years  before. 


1833)  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  32. 

The  New  Printing  Press  and  What  Became  of  the  Old  One. 

As  SOON  as  possible  after  agreement  between  the 
church  and  the  mob  was  finished  on  July  23,  1833, 
Oliver  Cowdery  started  for  Kirtland  to  consult  with 
the  church  there  about  what  to  do.  He  found  Kirt- 
land Saints  eager  to  hear  every  little  item  possible 
about  the  church  in  Missouri.  It  was  not  easy  to  get 
news  from  one  place  to  another. 

There  was  much  anxiety  felt  by  the  Kirtland  peo- 
ple, and  they  sympathized  with  the  Missouri  Saints, 
but  in  the  meantime  they  were  busy  preaching  and 
getting  the  church  in  better  order  all  the  time.  On 
the  very  day,  July  23,  when  the  mob  and  the  church 
made  the  treaty  mentioned  above,  the  Corner  st0ne 
Kirtland  people  laid  the  corner  stone  °f.  ^em]>\e  ** 

Kirtland  laid. 

for   the    Temple,    with   rejoicing    and 
thanksgiving.     Before  any  news  could  reach  Joseph 
Smith  of  the  very,  very  serious  trouble  in  Missouri, 
he  had  two  revelations  concerning 
Zion.  These  had  not  been  published. 
Oliver     Cowdery     had     left     his 
young  wife  in  Missouri  with  her  peo- 
ple, and  he  no  doubt  was  anxious  to 
hear    from   there,   but   he   was   de-         In  Missouri 
tained   to   counsel   with   the   elders 
about  getting  another  printing  press  and  starting  it 
in  Kirtland.     This  they  agreed  to  do.     It  was  to  be 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1833 

run  by  the  firm  of  F.  G.  Williams  &  Company.  This 
firm  was  to  publish  the  paper  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
call  it  The  Latter  Day  Saints'  Messenger  and  Advo- 
cate, and  The  Evening  and  the  Morning  Star,  for- 
merly published  in  Independence,  Missouri,  was  to  be 
printed  in  Kirtland  by  this  new  firm,  but  Oliver  Cow- 
dery  was  to  conduct  it,  be  being  also  a  member  of  the 
new  firm.  The  arrangement  was  in  force  only  until 
the  trouble  in  Missouri  was  settled,  when  it  was  to  be 
printed  as  before  in  Independence,  Missouri. 

While  these  men,  F.  G.  Williams,  Sidney  Rigdon, 
N.  K.  Whitney,  Joseph  Smith,  from  Kirtland,  and 
Oliver  Co\vdery  representing  the  Saints  in  Missouri, 
were  in  council  in  Kirtland,  meetings  were  being  held 
in  Missouri,  in  which  Bishop  Partridge  was  acknowl- 
edged the  head  of  the  church  in  Zion,  at  the  time,  and 
also  president  of  conferences,  ten  high  priests  were 
appointed  to  watch  over  the  ten  branches  of  the 
church  in  Zion.  At  these  meetings,  the  Saints  often 
sang  or  spoke  in  languages  unknown  to  them.  On 
one  occasion  a  hymn  was  sung  in  an  unknown  tongue 
by  W.  W.  Phelps  and  interpreted  by  Lyman  Wight. 
It  was  about  the  Nephites  and  their  travels  and 
troubles. 

Along  the  last  of  September,  1833,  Orson  Hyde 
and  John  Gould  arrived  from  Kirtland,  in  Missouri. 
They  had  started  soon  after  Oliver  Cowdery  got  to 
Kirtland,  being  sent  with  the  advice  to  the  church  in 
Zion,  and  the  church  immediately  sent  them  to  Jef- 


1833]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

ferson  City,  the  capital  of  Missouri,  with  the  petition 
mentioned  in  another  chapter;  and  we  have  seen  the 
beginning  of  their  success  in  going  to  the  governor. 

The  church  of  Missouri  was  passing  through  heavy 
seas  of  trouble.  On  October  10,  F.  G.  Williams,  of 
the  First  Presidency,  wrote  a  letter  to  his  brethren  in 
Zion.  He  tells  that  their  letters  were  being  taken 
from  the  mail  by  unknown  people,  and  the  Saints  in 
Ohio  knew  little  of  the  true  condition  in  Zion. 

The  Kirtland  Saints  were  not  working  on  the  build- 
ing of  the  Temple  now,  having  delayed  that  until 
spring,  but  they  were  working  to  pre-     Preparing 
pare  a  house  in  which  to  print  their     printing 

*  house. 

papers.  They  expected  to  have  a  list 
of  subscribers  ready,  and  mail  the  Star  to  them  early 
in  December,  1833.  Elder  Cowdery  and  Bishop 
Whitney  had  gone  to  New  York  right  away  after  the 
"printing  meeting,"  the  one  with  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars to  get  the  printing  outfit,  and  the  latter  with 
money  to  buy  goods  for  the  store  in  Ohio. 

After  a  successful  mission  to  Canada,  the  mission- 
aries returned  to  Kirtland  on  Monday,  November  4, 
1833,  the  day  when  the  battle  between  Saints  and 
mobbers  was  fought  in  Jackson  County,  Missouri. 
About  December  1,  1833,  Elder  Cowdery  and  Bishop 
Whitney  arrived  in  Kirtland  with  the  new  press  and 
type,  and  on  the  fourth  day  of  December,  1833,  they 
began  to  prepare  the  type,  and  on  the  sixth  began  set- 
ting type  for  The  Evening  and  the  Morning  Star; 


144 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1833 


the  gentle-mannered  paper  printed  in  Zion  so  lately, 
and  so  lately  in  her  streets  made  a  shame,  and  her  type 
scattered  and  broken.  What  was  hurriedly  collected  of 
this  type  and  press  was  taken,  by  permission  of  the 
mob,  to  Liberty,  Clay  County,  Missouri,  by  the  firm' of 
Davis  and  Kelley,  and  set  up  there  to  publish  a  weekly 
paper  called  the  Missouri  Enquirer.  They  paid  the 
church's  lawyer  three  hundred  dollars  for  the  one 
thousand  dollar  note,  a  small  amount  for  an  outfit 
that  cost,  books  and  furniture  and  all,  between  three 
and  four  thousand  dollars.  This  old  printing  press 
years  afterward  was  sold  to  a  firm  in 
pressPrinting  Saint  Joseph,  Missouri,  and  the  first 
papers  of  the  Saint  Joseph  Gazette 
were  printed  on  it,  and  these  people  sold  it  to  a  firm 
in  Denver,  Colorado. 

On  December  10,  Joseph  Smith  wrote  to  the  church 
in   Missouri.      His   letter   is   dated    Kirtland   Mills, 

Ohio,  December  10,  1833. 
He  tries  to  comfort  the 
Saints  in  Liberty,  Missouri, 
but  he  says:  "I  have  always 
expected  that  Zion  would 
suffer  some  affliction,  from 
what  I  could  learn  from  the 
commandments  which  have 
been  given."  He  did  not  complain  so  much  of  any 
other  thing  as  he  did  that  the  Saints  who  were  innocent 
of  any  wrongdoing  had  to  suffer  as  much  as  those  who 


A  rocky  glen  in  Missouri. 


1833]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

may  have  been  boastful  or  false.     He  urges  them  to 
keep  the  lands  they  have  paid  for  and  to  keep  the  law. 

On  the  sixteenth,  a  revelation  was  received,  ex- 
plaining why  this  trouble  had  come  upon  the  people 
in  Zion,  but  promising  if  the  church  people  would  be 
faithful,  there  would  be  a  return  of  God's  favors.  On 
December  18,  1833,  the  elders  of  Kirtland  gathered 
in  the  printing  office  and  dedicated  by  prayer  the  press 
and  all  things  connected  with  it  to  the  work  of  the 
Lord.  They  then  took  from  the  press  the  proof  sheets 
of  the  first  number  of  The  Evening  and  the  Morning 
Star,  edited  in  Kirtland  by  Oliver  Cowdery.  This 
was  just  a  continuation  of  the  paper  of  Independence 
fame,  and  number  fifteen  of  volume  two. 

On  December  19,  1833,  William  Pratt  and  David 
W.  Patten  started  from  Kirtland  for  Zion,  with  dis- 
patches and  letters  for  the  church  there,  and  carried 
some  of  the  late  papers  with  them.  This  was  the  close 
of  the  year,  1833.  In  Kirt- 
land there  was  some  fear  of 
the  actions  of  those  who  hated 
the  church  and  made  threats, 
but  there  was  much  of  peace 
and  prosperity  among  the 
church.  There  were  branches  Courthouse  at  Liberty, 
in  the  East,  growing  and  Missouri. 

peaceful,  and  some  in  Canada;  but  let  us  look  again 
upon  the  church  in  Zion. 

We  find  the  mob  hunting  for  and  mistreating  and 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1833 

killing  all  who  had  not  left  the  counties  that  were 
under  mob  rule.  The  leading  men  had  engaged  law- 
yers in  the  city  of  Liberty,  Missouri,  to  act  for  them 
in  settling  all  church  affairs.  The  law  firm  known  as 
Messrs.  Wood,  Reese,  Doniphan  and  Atchison  had 
agreed  to  do  this  work  for  the  sum  of 
one  thousand  dollars.  W.  W.  Phelps 
and  Edward  Partridge  gave  a  note  for 
the  money,  and  the  law  firm,  knowing  all  the  true 
story  of  the  men  and  their  troubles,  believed  in  their 
honor  and  integrity  so  strongly  that  they  took  the  note 
and  asked  no  further  security. 


1833]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  33. 

The  Exiles. 

ON  FRIDAY,  December  6,  1833,  six  of  the  Saints 
sent  another  petition  to  the  governor  of  Missouri, 
asking  to  be  permitted  to  return  to  their  homes  in 
Jackson  County,  and  to  be  protected  while  there,  even 
asking  to  be  allowed  to  organize  their  men  in  com- 
panies, and  be  given  arms  to  protect  themselves,  and 
that  the  state  authorities  investigate  the  matter  of  the 
mob.  This  was  signed  by  W.  W.  Phelps,  John  Whit- 
mer,  John  Corrill,  Isaac  Morley,  Edward  Partridge, 
A.  S.  Gilbert,  and  sent  to  Daniel  Dunklin,  Governor 
of  Missouri. 

On  December  12,  1833,  there  was  news  of  mobbing 
and  killing  in  Van  Bur  en  County,  among  the  few 
Saints  left  there.  The  Jackson  County  mob  was  in- 
flaming the  whole  country.  The  most  of  the  church 
people  were,  now  in  Clay  County,  where  they  had 
always  been  treated  with  some  kindness.  Here  the 
men  worked  at  any  kind  of  honest  labor,  and  some 
of  them  were  very  skillful  workmen.  The  women, 
many  of  them,  taught  school;  some  did  fine  sewing; 
others  worked  as  domestics  and  nurses. 

Every  cabin  and  house  in  Clay  County  was  oc- 
cupied. Some  bought  farms,  and  others  went  into 
business  in  towns,  for  there  were  locksmiths,  black- 
smiths, tanners,  and  tailors.  Indeed,  nearly  every 


148  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1833 

trade  was  represented  by  these  exiles  in  Clay  County ; 
for  they  were  exiles,  a  persecuted,  homesick  band  of 
pioneers,  in  this,  a  free  country. 

In  a  letter  written  from  Clay  County  by  W.  W. 
Phelps,  to  the  Saints  in  Kirtland,  we  find  pathetic 
reading.  He  tells  of  the  scattered  condition,  and  how 
some  are  doing  wrong,  but  others  are  immovable  as 
the  hills  for  right.  He  says :  "I  know  it  was  right  that 
we  should  be  driven  out  of  the  land  of  Zion  that  the 
rebellious  might  be  sent  away,  but  brethren,  if  the 
Lord  will,  I  should  like  to  know  what  the  honest  in 
heart  shall  do?"  They  were  anxious  to  do  right,  not 
alone  for  their  own  personal  comfort,  but  for  the  good 
of  all  who  should  come  after  them  in  the  history  they 
were  unconsciously  making. 

On  the  night  of  December  24,  1833,  the  mob  tore 
down  the  chimneys,  broke  in  the  doors,  and  threw 
large  rocks  into  the  houses  of  four  aged  and  poor 
families  near  Independence,  Missouri.  One  of  these 
men  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
and  was  one  of  Washington's  life  guards.  A  court  of 
inquiry  was  held  at  Liberty,  Clay  County,  in  Decem- 
ber, to  investigate  the  conduct  of  Colonel  Pitcher  in 
driving  the  Saints  out  of  Jackson  County.  This  re- 
sulted in  his  being  arrested  for  further  trial  by  a  court- 
martial. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  action  of  this  mob 
was  according  to  the  laws  of  Missouri.  Far  from  it. 
Missouri  had  a  generous  and  just  constitution,  and 


1833]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

her  laws  were  good  and  honorable.  Not  so  the  men 
under  the  laws,  expected  to  see  that  the  law  was  kept ; 
but  Missouri  must  bear  the  blame  of  this  shameful 
thing. 

The  people  of  Clay  County  were  kind  to  the  church, 
but  Jackson  County  mobbers  hated  them  for  it,  and 
only  the  Missouri  River  lay  between 
them.     True,  some  of  the  state  officers     Mob  rule- 
were  eager  for  the  "Mormons"  to  be 
treated  right,  but  the  mob  ruled.     The  Saints  could 
not  go  into  what  is  now  the  State  of  Kansas.     That 
was  a  territory  and  belonged  to  the  Indians.     So  the 
Saints  tried  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri. 

The  Jackson  County  people  moved  onto  the  Saints' 
farms  and  wanted  a  title  to  them.  They  sent  word  to 
the  church  in  Clay  County  that  they  wanted  to  buy, 
and  would  pay  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  an 
acre.  This  was  what  they  had  to  pay  the  Government 
for  new,  unimproved  land.  The  church  refused  to  sell 
for  this.  They  finally  sent  a  committee  from  Jackson 
County  to  meet  a  committee  in  Clay  County  of  citizens 
from  Liberty.  The  Jackson  County  men  tried  to  get 
their  way,  but  finally  left,  but  not  until  there  came 
near  being  a  fight.  And  thus  the  last  days  of  1833 
found  the  church  in  Missouri.  Poor,  discouraged,  and 
homeless,  the  company  so  full  of  hope  and  happiness 
in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  at  this  its  close,  knew  not 
what  to  do  nor  where  to  go. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 


CHAPTER  34.  - 

Two  Messengers  Sent  to  Headquarters. 

ON  NEW  YEAR'S  DAY,  1834,  there  was  a  conference 
held  at  the  home  of  Parley  P.  Pratt,  in  Clay  County, 
Missouri.  We  think  Parley  Pratt's  account  of  this 
meeting  and  its  results  will  be  interesting: 

"After  making  our  escape  into  the  County  of  Clay, 
being  reduced  to  the  lowest  poverty,  I  made  a  living 
by  day  labor,  jobbing,  building,  or  wood  cutting,  till 
sometime  in  the  winter  of  1834,  when  a  General  Con- 
ference was  held  at  my  house,  in  which  it  was  decided 
that  two  of  the  elders  should  be  sent  to  Ohio,  in  order 
to  counsel  with  President  Smith  and  the  church  at 
Kirtland,  and  take  some  measures  for  the  relief  or 
'restoration  of  the  people  thus  plundered  and  driven 
from  their  homes.  The  question  was  put  to  the  con- 
ference: 'Who  would  volunteer  to  perform  so  great 
a  journey?' 

"The  poverty  of  all  and  the  inclement  season  of  the 
year  made  all  hesitate.  At  length  Lyman  Wight  and 
myself  offered  our  services,  which  were  readily  ac- 
cepted. I  was  at  this  time  entirely  destitute  of  proper 
clothing  for  the  journey;  and  I  had  neither  horse, 
saddle,  bridle,  money,  nor  provisions  to  take  with  me ; 
or  to  leave  with  my  wife,  who  lay  sick  and  helpless 
most  of  the  time. 

"Under  these  circumstances  I  knew  not  what  to  do. 


1834]  .        YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

Nearly  all  had  been  robbed  and  plundered,  and  all 
were  poor.  As  we  had  to  start  without  delay,  I  almost 
trembled  at  the  undertaking;  it  seemed  to  be  all  but 
an  impossibility;  but  'to  him  that  believeth  all  things 
are  possible.'  I  started  out  of  my  house  to  do  some- 
thing towards  making  preparation;  I  hardly  knew 
which  way  to  go,  but  I  found  myself  in  the  house  of 
Brother  John  Lowry,  and  was  intending  to  ask  him 
for  money;  but  as  I  entered  his  miserable  cottage  in 
the  swamp,  amid  the  low,  timbered  bottoms  of  the 
Missouri  River,  I  found  him  sick  in  bed  with  a  heavy 
fever,  and  two  or  three  others  of  his  family  down  with 
the  same  complaint,  on  different  beds  in  the  same 
room.  He  was  vomiting  severely,  and  was  hardly 
sensible  of  my  presence.  I  thought  to  myself,  'Well, 
this  is  a  poor  place  to  come  for  money,  and  yet  I  must 
have  it;  I  know  of  no  one  else  that  has  got  it;  what 
shall  I  do?'  I  sat  a  little  while  confounded  and 
amazed.  At  length  another  elder  happened  in. 

"We  laid  hands  on  them  and  rebuked  the  disease; 
Brother  Lowry  rose  up  well;  I  did  my  errand,  and 
readily  obtained  all  I  asked.  This  provided  in  part 
for  my  family's  sustenance  while  I  should  leave  them. 
I  went  a  little  further  into  the  woods  of  Messen 

the  Missouri  bottoms,  and  came  to  a     preparing  to 

£  u    J.L       '  - 1*    XL  j?     start  for  helP- 

camp  ot  some  brethren,  by  the  name  ot 

Higbee,  who  owned  some  horses ;  they  saw  me  coming, 
and,  moved  by  the  Spirit,  one  of  them  said  to  the  other, 
'There  comes  Brother  Parley;  he's  in  want  of  a  horse 


152 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


[1834 


for  his  journey — I  must  let  him  have  old  Dick';  this 
being  the  name  of  the  best  horse  he  had.  'Yes,'  said 
I,  'brother,  you  have  guessed  right;  but  what  will  I 
do  for  a  saddle?'  'Well,'  says  the  other,  'I  believe  I'll 
have  to  let  you  have  mine.'  I  blessed  them  and  went 
on  my  way  rejoicing. 

"I  next  called  on  Sidney  A.  Gilbert,  a  merchant, 
then  sojourning  in  the  village  of  Liberty — his  store 
in  Jackson  County  having  been  broken  up,  and  his 
goods  plundered  and  destroyed  by  the  mob.  'Well,' 
says  he,  'Brother  Parley,  you  certainly  look  too 
shabby  to  start  on  a  journey;  you  must  have  a  new 


The  hills  of  Kirtland  in  the  spring. 

suit ;  I  have  got  some  remnants  left  that  will  make  you 
a  coat,'  etc.  A  neighboring  tailoress  and  two  or  three 
other  sisters  happened  to  be  present  on  a  visit,  and 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

hearing  the  conversation,  exclaimed,  'Yes,  Brother 
Gilbert,  you  find  the  stuff  and  we'll  make  it  up  for 
him.'  This  arranged,  I  now  lacked  only  a  cloak;  this 
was  also  furnished  by  Brother  Gilbert. 

"Brother  Wight  was  also  prospered  in  a  similar 
manner  in  his  preparations.  Thus  faith  and  the  bless- 
ings of  God  had  cleared  up  our  way  to  accomplish 
what  seemed  impossible.  We  were  soon  ready,  and 
on  the  first  of  February  we  mounted  our  horses,  and 
started  in  good  cheer  to  ride  one  thousand  or  fifteen 
hundred  miles  through  a  wilderness  country.  We  had 
not  one  cent  of  money  in  our  pockets  on  starting. 

"We  traveled  every  day,  whether  through  storm  or 
sunshine,  mud,  rain,  or  snow;  except  when  our  public 
duties  called  us  to  tarry.  We  arrived 

J  .  Messengers 

in    Kirtland    early   in   the   spring,    all     arrive  in 
safe  and  sound ;  we  had  lacked  for  noth- 
ing on  the  road,  and  now  had  plenty  of  funds  in  hand. 
President  Joseph  Smith  and  the  church  in  Kirtland 
received  us  with  a  hospitality  and  joy  unknown  except 
among  the  Saints;  and  much  interest  was  felt  there, 
as  well  as  elsewhere,  on  the  subject  of  our  persecution. 
The  President  inquired  of  the  Lord  concerning  the 
matter,  and  a  further  mission  was  appointed  us." 

Lyman  Wight  claims  that  it  was  January  12  they 
left  Missouri,  he  leaving  his  wife  frail  and  delicate 
with  the  little  baby  born  in  the  rag-carpet  tent,  now 
several  weeks  old.  Lyman  Wight,  in  his  journal  kept 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

every  day,  counts  the  distance  one  thousand  three 
hundred  miles  over  which  these  men  journeyed  to  get 
counsel  from  Kirtland. 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  35. 

The  Saints  Still  Helpless  in  Clay  County. 

THE  PEOPLE  continued  to  ask  the  governor  to  help 
them.    His  replies  as  recorded  would  lead  us  to  think 
that  he  was  trying  to  be  fair  and  just  to  all  concerned 
in  this  sad  and  bitter  tragedy.    They  appealed  to 
President  Jackson  at  Washington.    He     Appeal  to 
referred  them  back  to  the  State  and  its     ^rn^eng^es 
rights  to  settle  things.     The  question 
of  the  rights  of  a  State  were  not  so  definitely  known 
then  as  now,  and  the  Saints  found  themselves  as  help- 
less as  before. 

We  give  here  the  copy  of  the  order  censuring  Colo- 
nel Pitcher  for  his  action  against  the  Saints,  Novem- 
ber 5,  1833,  at  Independence,  Missouri,  and  other 
items  of  interest: 

"CiTY  OF  JEFFERSON,  May  2,  1834. 

ffTo  Samuel  D.  Lucas,  Colonel  Thirty-third  Regi- 
ment; Sir:  The  court  ordered  to  inquire  into  the  con- 
duct of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pitcher,  in  the  movement 
he  made  on  the  fifth  November  last,  report  it  as  their 
unanimous  opinion  that  there  was  no  insurrection  on 
that  day,  and  that  Colonel  Pitcher  was  not  authorized 
to  call  out  his  troops  on  the  fifth  November,  1833. 
It  was  then  unnecessary  to  require  the  Mormons  to 
give  up  their  arms.  Therefore,  you  will  deliver  to  W. 
W.  Phelps,  E.  Partridge,  John  Corrill,  John  Whit- 


156  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

mer,  and  A.  S.  Gilbert,  or  their  order,  the  fifty-two 
guns,  and  one  pistol  reported  by  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Pitcher  to  you  on  the  third  December  last,  as  having 
been  received  by  him  from  the  Mormons  on  the  fifth 
of  the  preceding  November. 

"Respectfully, 

"DANIEL  DUNKLIN,  Commander  in  Chief." 
—Taken  from  Times  and  Seasons,  vol.  6,  pp.  1073, 
1074. 

On  May  15,  1834,  the  Saints  wrote  Colonel  Lucas, 
inclosing  the  order  of  the  commander-in-chief  for  the 
return  of  their  firearms: 

"LIBERTY,  CLAY  COUNTY,  May  15,  1834. 
"Colonel  S.  D.  Lucas;  Sir:  We  have  this  day  re- 
ceived a  communication  from  the  governor  of  this 
State,  covering  the  order  herewith,  and  we  hasten  to 
forward  the  said  order  to  you,  by  the  bearer,  Mr. 
Richardson,  who  is  instructed  to  receive  your  reply. 
We  would  further  remark  that,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, we  hope  to  receive  our  arms  on  this  side  of 
the  river,  and  we  would  name  a  place  near  one  of  the 
ferries  for  your  convenience.  As  the  arms  are  few  in 
number,  we  request  that  they  may  be  delivered  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible. 

"Respectfully  yours, 

"A.  S.  GILBERT.        "EDWARD  PARTRIDGE. 

"JOHN  CORRILL.        "JOHN  WHITMER/' 

fCW,  W,  PHELPS. 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

"P.  S.  We  will  thank  you  for  a  written  communi- 
cation, in  answer  to  this  letter,  and  the  accompanying 
order." 

In  those  days  men  needed  guns  for  protection,  and 
then,  too,  they  depended  very  much  on  wild  .game  for 
food;  besides,  the  guns  were  valuable.     Gung  dig 
No  attention  was  paid  to  the  order  from     tributed  to 
this  man  of  power.     The  Saints  wrote 
to  Lucas  and  again  to  the  governor,  but  the  guns  had 
been  distributed  among  the  mob. 

The  citizens  of  Clay  County  were  trying  to  bring 
about  a  peaceable  settlement  of  the  trouble,  and  make 
it  possible  for  the  Saints  to  return  to  their  houses  and 
land.  The  church  in  Kirtland  was  distressed  and 
anxious  over  the  conditions  in  Zion.  They  held  special 
prayer  meetings,  wrote  letters,  and  sent  them  money. 
The  literary  part  of  the  church  was  being  carefully 
watched  and  wisely  used.  They  even  hoped  to  be  able 
to  print  the  Inspired  Translation  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  Saints  in  Kirtland  drew  up  a  petition  to  the 
Governor  of  Missouri,  signed  by  sixty  brethren,  and 
mailed  it  to  Jefferson  City,  Missouri;     saints  pe- 
with  it  they  sent  a  printed  revelation,     tition  s°v- 
and  they  proposed  to  petition  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  in  the  same  way.     They 
were  having  trouble  themselves  in  Kirtland  with  Doc- 
tor  Hurlbut,   who   had   threatened   the   life   of   the 
Prophet  if  he  could  not  destroy  the  church.    They  held 
important  councils, — one'  on  February  17,  1834,  at 


158  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1834 

the  house  of  President  Joseph  Smith  in  Kirtland, 
Ohio,  when  the  High  Council  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints  was  organized. 

This  consisted  of  twelve  high  priests,  with  one  or 
three  presidents  "as  the  case  might  be."  This  council 
was  appointed  by  revelation  for  the  purpose  of  set- 
tling important  difficulties,  which  could  not  be  settled 
by  the  elders  or  the  bishop's  court,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  parties  interested.  There  were  present  and  vot- 
ing at  this  organizing  meeting,  nine  high  priests, 
seventeen  elders,  four  priests,  and  thirteen  members. 
They  voted  that  this  council  had  no  power  to  act  with- 
out seven  of  them  were  present. 

The  seven  could  appoint  other  high  priests  whom 
they  thought  worthy  to  act  in  the  place  of  the  absent 
ones.  If  anyone  was  taken  away  from  the  number, 
by  death  or  any  other  way,  then  the  president  of  the 
council  named  a  successor,  and  the  people  voted  to 
have  him  or  to  reject  him.  Much  more  regarding  this 
important  council  may  be  found  in  Church  History. 
Its  work  is  solemn  and  very  important  in  its  dignity 
and  honor,  to  the  settlement  of  only  very  hard  and 
grievous  cases. 

The  rules  of  this  committee  were  read  three  times 
before  a  meeting  of  sixty-two  persons,  and  adopted 
by  them  for  the  church.  The  men  named  were  then 
ordained  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  those  having 
the  right. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


159 


A  conference  was  held  in  Kirtland  on  February 
19  and  20,  1834.  The  high  council  was  called  to  de- 
cide whether  a  man  was  worthy  to  administer  the  sac- 
rament of  the  Lord's  Supper,  if  he  did  not  keep  the 
Word  of  Wisdom.  The  decision  reached 
was:  "No  official  member  in  this  church          wisdom! 
is  worthy  to  hold  an  office,  after  having 
the  Words  of  Wisdom  properly  taught  to  him,  and  he 
the  official  member  neglecting  to  comply  with  or  obey 
them;  which  decision  the  council  confirmed  by  vote." 

There  were  many  sent  out  on  missions  from  this 
conference:  Lyman  Johnson  and  Milton  Holmes, 
Zebedee  Coltrin  and  Henry  Harriman,  Jared  Carter 
and  Phineas  Young  to  Canada;  for  Canada  people 
had  written  asking  that  some  one  come  and  preach  to 
them.  Then  they  voted  to  send  Orson  Hyde  and 
Elder  Pratt  to  the  East  to  obtain  donations  for  Zion 
and  to  redeem  the  farm  on  which  stood  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  for  they  were  in  debt  for  this  farm.  The 
Saints  in  Missouri  would  no  doubt  rejoice  at  this  last 
appointment,  for  in  a  letter  they  had  been  told  that 
some  one  in  the  East  was  going  to  do  something  splen- 
did for  Zion's  redemption  if  she  was  not  soon  relieved. 

It  was  February  22,  1834,  that  P.  P.  Pratt  and 
Lyman  Wight  arrived  in  Kirtland  from  Missouri, 
through  winter's  cold  and  with  no  comfortable  way  to 
travel,  for  they  had  been  riding  horseback  all  the  way. 
On  the  next  day,  Sunday,  they  addressed  the  people- 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1834 

at  the  Methodist  church  in  Kirtland.  Lyman  Wight's 
journal  tells  us  the  Missouri  trouble  seemed  very  real 
to  the  people  that  day.  They  wept  and  prayed,  but 
what  could  they  do  more? 


1834] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


161 


CHAPTER  36. 

"Zion's  Camp"  a  Relief  Company  for  the  Saints. 

ON  THE  twenty-fourth  day  of  February,  a  revela- 
tion was  received  directing  plans  for  helping  Zion, 
sending  the  leading  men  by  twos  to 
hurry  through  the  branches  and  get  help     Ssnginthzeion. 
for  the  suffering  people  in  Zion.  Some 
of  them  returned  from  this  hurried  trip  the  last  of 
March.     April  21,  1834,  Hyrum  Smith  and  Lyman 
Wight  started  by  team  for  the  land  of  Zion.     They 
were  going  by  way  of  Michigan  and  the  northern 
part  of  Illinois,  visiting  the 
branches  of  the  church  as 
they    went,    and    getting 
what  help  they  could  for 
the  Saints  in  Missouri. 

There  was  now  hurry 
and  bustle  in  Kirtland,  so 
that  on  the  first  day  of 

Chagrin   River. 

May,  1834,  there  were  four 

baggage  wagons  loaded  with  clothing  and  provision, 
and  over  twenty  passengers  left  the  hills  of  Kirtland 
and  moved  toward  their  mission  to  the  waiting  people 
in  Zion.  This  was  the  first  move  towards  Missouri  of 
the  company  that  was  called  "Zion's  Camp";  they 
went  only  fifty  miles,  to  New  Portage,  where  they 
waited  for  the  rest  of  the  company.  (The  Lord  had 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  |  1831 

especially  instructed  these  people  that  they  should  not 
go  with  less  than  one  hundred  men.) 

The  fifth  day  of  May,  1834,  saw  a  company  of 

about  one  hundred,  mostly  young  men,  nearly  all 

elders,  or  priests,  or  teachers,  or  dea- 

^mpaenyfstart.  cons>  ready  to  start  for  Zion.  Like  the 
first  little  company,  the  wagons  were 
full  of  clothing,  food,  firearms,  and  ammunition.  So 
the  men  knew  they  would  be  compelled  to  walk  most 
of  the  way.  On  the  sixth  day  they  joined  the  little 
band  at  New  Portage,  and  on  the  seventh  day  got 
ready  to  travel  in  order,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  in  com- 
fort. Everyone  turned  his  money  into  the  hands  of 
F.  G.  Williams,  who  was  to  be  paymaster  of  the 
company. 

There  were  now  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
and  twenty  baggage  wagons.  Zerubbabel  Snow  was 
commissary  general.  The  band  of  travelers  was 
divided  in  companies  of  twelve.  Each  company 
elected  its  own  captain.  Then  the  captain  of  his  own 
little  company  gave  each  of  his  men  a  work  to  do, 
something  like  this :  two  cooks,  two  to  make  fires,  two 
to  fix  tents,  two  to  bring  water,  one  messenger,  two 
wagoners  and  horsemen,  and  one  to  look  after  the  food 
supply.  They  baked  their  own  bread,  and  cooked 
meat  and  vegetables,  and  Joseph  Smith  says,  "It  was 
good,  though  sometimes  scanty."  Sometimes  they 
enjoyed  "johnnycake,"  or  "corndodger,"  instead  of 
"flour  bread." 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

A  trumpet  was  blown  when  time  to  retire,  and  then 
in  each  tent  the  men  of  that  place  knelt  in  prayer ;  and 
in  the  morning  the  trumpet  sounded  again  for 
prayers.  Journeying  slowly,  this  little  band  of  men 
traveled  in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois, 
to  the  relief  of  those  in  Missouri,  where  were  twelve 
hundred  homeless  people  looking  and  praying  for 
their  coming,  while  May  passed  and  sunny  June  came 
to  the  timbered  hills  of  Clay  County,  along  the  his- 
toric Missouri  River. 

Already  an  armory  had  been  set  up  in  Clay  County. 
The  governor  had  advised  them  to  arm  themselves 
and  form  in  companies.     There  they 
were  busy  making  swords,  dirks,  pistols ;     cJayal>Cmmty.n 
stocking  rifles,  and  repairing  arms  in 
general,  for  their  own  defense.    Many  arms  were  pur- 
chased, for  you  see  the  leading  men  in  Clay  County 
helped  in  every  way  they  could.    "They  wanted  the 
Saints  to  settle  their  own  troubles. 

The  story  of  the  march  of  the  "Camp  of  Zion"  from 
Kirtland  to  Missouri  is  full  of  interest.  They  were 
joined  by  little  companies  from  different 
places  until  there  were  two  hundred 
and  five  men  and  twenty -five  baggage 
wagons.  They  preached  on  Sundays  and  held  sacra- 
ment meetings.  On  the  eighth  day  of  June,  Lyman 
Wight  and  Hyrum  Smith  joined  them  with  their  vol- 
unteers. June  12,  they  reorganized,  making  Lyman 
Wight  general  of  the  camp,  and  other  officers  were 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

elected.      They  had  target  practice  and  military  drill. 
In  the  camp  were  a  few  women  and  children.    This 
company  was  to  have  been  met  at  Fishing  River  by 
a  band  of  rough,  armed  men  who  in- 
tended  to  destroy  them,  but  a  heavy 
storm  of  wind  and  hail,  thunder  and 
lightning  drove  the  band  of  mobbers  back  to  Inde- 
pendence.   The  "Camp  of  Zion,"  such  as  could,  took 
refuge  in  an  old  meetinghouse.     Up  to  this  time,  the 
weather  had  been  very  pleasant.     Sometimes  they  did 
not  travel  far  in  a  day. 

Orson  Hyde  and  P.  P.  Pratt  had  left  the  camp 
soon  after  they  crossed  the  Mississippi  River,  being 
sent  by  the  members  of  the  camp  to  visit 
Irnor  ^nklin.  Governor  Dunklin  at  Jefferson  City, 
and  tell  him  what  this  company  of  men 
was  coming  to  Missouri  for  ( they  did  not  want  people 
to  think  they  were  coming  like  an  army) ,  and  ask  him 
to  protect  them  and  aid  them  in  their  efforts  to  get 
the  people  back  to  their  homes  in  Jackson  County. 
The  result  of  this  visit  was  not  all  they  had  hoped,  and 
some  may  have  been  discouraged  by  it,  but  from  the 
old  journal  of  Lyman  Wight  we  read,  "They  brought 
the  intelligence  that  the  governor  would  execute  the 
law,  whatever  it  might  be." 

It  was  June  22,  1834,  that  Cornelius  Gillium,  sheriff 
of  Clay  County,  went  to  the  camp  and  talked  with 
the  men.  He  told  them  the  disposition  and  manners 
of  the  people,  and  what  they  ought  to  do  to  get  into 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

favor  with  these  Jackson  County  men.     He  wanted 
to  know  what  the   "Mormons"   intended  to   do,   and 
finally  got  a  written  statement  from  the 
Saints  in  which  they  said  it  was  their  in-     f^rpiff  visits 
tention  to  go  back  upon  their  lands  in 
Jackson.    They  had  their  arms  for  defense,  and  their 
one  wish  was  to  have  things  settled  honorably  and  law- 
fully.    Governor  Dunklin  had  advised  the  Saints  to 
arm  themselves  and  defend  themselves.     They  could 
even  ask  for  State  arms  and  the  law  would  let  them 
have  them. 

The  "Camp"  was  still  at  Fishing  River,  on  land 
belonging  to  a  member  of  the  church 
named  John  Cooper;  and  the  evening 
following  the  visit  of  the  sheriff,  Joseph 
Smith  received  a  revelation  known  to  the  church  as  the 
"Fishing  River  revelation." 

In  the  midst  of  their  anxiety  and  perplexity,  a  new 
terror  was  upon  them,  for  some  of  them  were  attacked 
with  cholera,  and  the  night  of  June  24,  the  camp  was 
full  of  the  moaning  and  crying  of  the  sick  and  fright- 
ened.    On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
June,  the  camp  separated  into  small  bands,  and  scat- 
tered among  the  Saints  living  in  the  country.     In 
about  four  days  sixty-eight  of  the  peo- 
ple had  suffered  from  this  terrible  sick-     Cholera  in 
ness  called  cholera.    The  discovery  of  a 
very  simple  cure  saved  many  from  death.     This  cure 
was  effected  by  dipping  the  sick  ones  in  cold  water  or 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1834 

pouring  it  upon  them.  Thirteen  were  lost  out  of  the 
camp  by  death,  among  them  Algernon  Sidney  Gilbert, 
who  had  a  few  hours  before  declared  he  would  rather 
die  than  go  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles. 

Those  who  died  were  laid  in  the  earth  without  cof- 
fins, wrapped  in  blankets  and  carried  in  the  dark  to 
the  banks  of  Rush  Creek.  Here  part  of  the  men  stood 

guard  against  the  mob  while  others  dug 
™mp!aSt  °f  graves  for  the  victims  of  the  "enemy 

within  the  camp."  Weird  and  pathetic 
must  have  been  the  scene  in  the  still  June  night;  a 
sad  ending  to  the  brave-hearted  band  who  came  to  the 
help  of  their  brethren.  The  "camp"  was  a  thing  of 
memory  now,  and  the  end  of  its  journey  was  marked 
with  graves. 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  37. 

Missouri  Saints  Still  in  Exile;  Ohio  Saints  Building  the 
Temple. 

MEANWHILE,  the  Saints  and  their  friends  were  still 
making  efforts  to  settle  the  trouble.  Letters  and  pe- 
titions passed  back  and  forth.  The  gov- 
ernor insisted  on  the  restoration  of  the 
firearms  of  the  Saints,  but  Colonel  Lu- 
cas resigned,  rather  than  obey  the  order,  and  left 
Jackson  County;  and  all  this  for  fifty-two  guns  and 
one  pistol. 

The  Saints  were  willing  to  buy  all  the  land  from 
the  Jackson  County  men,  but  of  course  needed  time 
to  raise  the  money.  This  was  not  allowed.  They  were 
not  willing  to  sign  a  paper  declaring  they  would  never 
make  effort  to  settle  in  Jackson  County,  either  in  a 
body  or  personally.  The  meeting  of 
the  Jackson  County  committee  with  the 
Saints  and  citizens  of  Clay  County  in 
Liberty  offered  them  no  other  way  out  of  the  trouble. 
The  mobbers,  threatening  wicked  and  unlawful  things, 
left  Liberty,  and  crossing  the  hills  and  lowlands  that 
lay  between,  about  twelve  of  them  left  the  ferry  land- 
ing after  dusk  to  cross  the  Missouri  River  into  Jack- 
son County. 

The  leaders  were  Samuel  C.  Owens  and  James 
Campbell.  As  Campbell  adjusted  his  pistols  in  his 
holsters,  he  swore:  "The  eagles  and  turkey  buzzards 
shall  eat  my  flesh  if  I  do  not  fix  Joe  Smith  and  his 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1834 

army  so  that  their  skins  will  not  hold  shucks,  before 
two  days  are  passed."  When  the  boat  holding  these 
men  was  about  half  way  across  the  stream  it  sank,  and 

seven  of  the  twelve  men  were  drowned. 
drowned°bberS  Campbell's  body  was  found,  caught 

among  some  driftwood,  four  or  five 
miles  down  the  river.  His  skeleton  was  a  disgusting 
sight,  the  flesh  eaten  from  it  by  the  filthy  birds  of  the 
air  and  wild  animals  that  feed  on  decaying  and  loath- 
some things. 

S.  C.  Owens  floated  to  an  island  and  swam  to  shore. 
To  him  "and  others  of  the  Jackson  committee"  the 
Saints  addressed  the  letter  from  the  church,  trying  to 
make  settlement  with  them,  and  S.  C.  Owens  signed 
the  answering  letter,  refusing  the  "Mormon"  propo- 
sition for  settlement.  The  mob  sometimes  crossed 
into  Clay  County  now  and  beat  and  imprisoned  men, 
and  frightened  women  and  children. 

The  church  was  trying  to  keep  its  members  in  order 
and  under  proper  care  and  direction.    They  organized 
a  council  with  David  Whitmer,  John 
dJSoSr°garnSr     Whitmer,  and  W.  W.  Phelps  as  presi- 
dents, with  twelve  other  high  priests  for 
helpers  or  counselors.    Joseph  Smith  addressed  them 
at    this    organizing    meeting,    urging    them    to    be 
faithful  and  just  to  their  enemies,  according  to  the 
law  of  God.     He  had  lived  to  see  the  church  set  up 
on  earth,  according  to  the  order  of  heaven,  and  the 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

work  would  roll  on  and  the  gathering  of  the  house  of 
Israel  take  place  in  spite  of  everything. 

On  July  9,  1834,  F.  G.  Williams,  W.  E.  McLellin, 
Joseph   and   Hyrum   Smith   and   others   started   by 
wagon  for  Kirtland,  part  of  them  ar- 
riving  at   that   busy   little   city   about 
August  1,  1834;  some  of  them  leaving 
the  company  at  different  places  on  the  long  way. 

Sidney  Rigdon  was  in  charge  of  the  work  in  Kirt- 
land, and  it  truly  was  a  busy  time  for  these  Kirtland 
people.  Almost  night  and  day  they  worked  to  build 
the  Temple,  the  women  and  girls  spin- 
ning and  weaving  cloth,  and  cutting 
and  making  clothes  for  the  men  who 
worked  at  the  Temple.  They  made  from  the  raw 
wool  these  clothes,  and  warm  socks  were  knitted  in 
preparation  for  the  fall  and  winter  months.  Every 
bit  of  money  was  turned  into  the  Temple  fund,  and 
the  men  who  worked  at  building  it  got  no  pay  for  their 
work,  so  they  had  no  means  to  buy  clothing;  hence 
the  sisters  furnished  these  necessities.  Some  of  them 
made  exquisite  patterns  in  toweling  and  linen,  doing 
all  the  work,  from  the  raw  flax  to  the  finished  towels 
and  garments. 

The  Saints  in  Kirtland  were  few  in  number,  and 
poor;  but  they  were  earnest  and  anxious  to  help  God's 
work,  and  no  one  sat  idle  because  he  could  not  do  the 
thing  that  some  one  else  wTas  doing.  While  some 
spun  and  wove  and  cut  and  made  new  garments,  the 


170  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

old  clothes  were  also  looked  after  and  kept  clean  and 
mended  by  others.  Men  worked  in  any  station  they 
could  fill,  eagerly  pushing  the  Temple  work  wherever 
they  possibly  could  do  anything.  Some  of  the  time 
they  were  forced  to  keep  guards  on  the  wall  at  night 
to  keep  their  enemies  from  destroying  the  work  they 
had  done. 


Stone  quarry  near  Kirtland  where  they  worked  out  stone  for  Temple. 

President  Joseph  Smith  was  foreman  in  the  stone 
quarry,  and  high  priests,  elders,  priests,  teachers, 
deacons,  all  worked  at  hard  labor  day  after  day  on 
this  house,  planned  and  commanded  by  almighty  God 
to  be  built.  Many  and  heartfelt  were  the  prayers  of 
men  and  women  for  the  building  of  that  Temple.  We 
are  told  that  cherished  keepsakes,  bits  of  jewelry  and 
family  silver,  were  sold  by  these  brave  and  earnest  peo- 
ple to  get  means  to  help  build  the  Temple.  The  story 


1834]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

is  told  how  the  beauty  and  strength  of  the  outer  walls 
were  enhanced  by  sacrifice,  for  the  sisters  threw  their 
fine   china  into  a  mortar  and  it  was     Tempie  wans 
ground    into    glittering    powder    and     t^e  beau' 
mixed  in  the  cement,  and  the  peculiar 
effect  on  the  cement  is  visible  now,  in  the  old  cement, 
though  many  years  are  gone,  as  the  sun  shines  on  the 
sparkling  old  walls  of  the  Temple. 

And  while  putting  so  much  time  into  this  Temple 
work,  other  things  were  not  forgotten.    The  Evening 
and  the  Morning  Star  was  published  every  summer 
month  by  Oliver  Cowdery  at  Kirtland.     It  told  of 
new  branches  of  the  church  at  many 
places,  and  answered  false  things  said     papers, 
about  the  church  in  other  papers.  There 
were  troubles  to  settle,  too,  among  the  brethren,  but 
their  troubles  were  settled  by  the  elders,  bishops,  or 
the  High  Council.     For  that  was  the  work  of  these 
officers,  that  men  might  have  justice  in  the  church. 

In  September,  at  a  meeting  of  the  High  Council 
during  a  conference,  it  was  decided  to  appoint  a  com- 
mittee to  arrange  the  items  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus 
Christ,  for  the  government  of  the  church.  These 
items  were  to  be  taken  from  the  Bible,  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, and  the  revelations  that  had  been  given  or  might 
be  given  by  the  time  the  items  were  arranged.  Joseph 
Smith,  Oliver  Cowdery,  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  F.  G. 
Williams  were  the  committee,  and  they  were  to  ar- 


172  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

range  and  publish  the  Book  of  Covenants,  too.  Ar- 
rangements were  made  for  license  for  high  priest, 
signed  by  the  clerk. 


1834]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  38. 

Joseph   Smith. 

OCTOBER  found  the  Temple  still  building,  and  the 
people  rejoicing  over  it.  It  was  during  this  month 
that  a  party  of  leading  churchmen  from  Kirtland 
visited  Michigan.  While  going  up  the  lake,  on  the 
steamer  named  Monroe,  Elder  Oliver  Cowdery  was 
talking  with  a  man  named  Elmer.  The  way  this  man 
talked  will  show  how  little  reason  there  was  in  many 
things  reported  about  the  Saints.  People  were  easily 
led  to  believe  false  things  by  just  such  men.  He  said 
he  was  "personally  acquainted  with  Joe  Smith,"  had 
"heard  him  preach  his  lies,"  and  "now  since  he  was 
dead  he  was  glad."  He  "had  heard  Joe  Smith  preach 
in  Bainbridge,  Chenango  County,  New  York,  five 
years  since."  He  knew  it  to  be  "Hm"  that  "he  was  a 
dark  complexioned  man."  This  man  was  exultant 
because  "Joe  Smith"  was  dead.  Joseph  Smith  was 
not  a  preacher  five  years  before  this  time,  and  had 
never  been  in  Bainbridge,  New  York.  Neither  was 
Joseph  Smith's  complexion  in  any  way  dark.  His 
eyes  were  large  and  blue,  his  hair  brown,  and  his  skin 
fair.  The  man  named  Elmer  spread  his -knowledge 
(?)  no  doubt.  The  elders  finished  their  mission  in 
Michigan,  and  returned  to  Kirtland,  where  the  elders 
gathered  from  their  fields  to  report  and  counsel  in 
the  "School  for  elders." 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

A  building  for  the  printing  office  was  nearly  fin- 
ished. The  men  of  those  times  must  have  been  many 
of  them  like  their  Prophet,  who  said,  "My  life  con- 
sists of  activity  and  unyielding  exertions,"  and  this 
was  his  rule,  "When  the  Lord  commands,  do  it!"  The 

"Messen  er  ^ast  num^er  °^  The  Evening  and  the 
and  Advo-  Morning  Star  had  gone  forth  from  the 
office  with  the  month  "September, 
1834,"  on  its  face,  and  the  Messenger  and  Advocate 
now  rustled  in  the  hands  of  its  readers,  stamped  with 
the  month  of  "October,  1834,"  Oliver  Cowdery  still 
editor.  In  the  December  number  of  the  paper  there 
was  printed  a  letter  written  by  Joseph  Smith  to 
Oliver  Cowdery,  for  publication : 

"Having  learned  from  the  first  number  of  the 
Messenger  and  Advocate  that  you  were  not  only 
about  to  'give  a  history  of  the  rise  and  progress  of 

the  Church  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints' ; 
fp^slnUh  J°S"  but»  that  said  'history  would  necessarily 

embrace  my  life  and  character,'  I  have 
been  induced  to  give  you  the  time^  and  place  of  my 
birth;  as  I  have  learned  that  many  of  the  opposers  of 
those  principles  which  I  have  held  forth  to  the  world 
profess  a  personal  acquaintance  with  me,  though  when 
in  my  presence,  represent  me  to  be  another  person  in 
age,  education,  and  stature,  from  what  I  am. 

"I  was  born,  (according  to  the  record  of  the  same, 
kept  by  my  parents,)  in  the  town  of  Sharon,  Windsor 


1834]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  ^75 


j** 


r 


JOSEPH  SMITH  THE  PROPHET. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

County,  Vermont,  on  the  twenty-third  of  December, 
1805. 

"At  the  age  of  ten  my  father's  family  removed  to 
Palmyra,  New  York,  where,  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
which,  I  lived,  or  made  it  my  place  of  residence,  until 
I  was  twenty-one — the  latter  part,  in  the  town  of 
Manchester. 

"During  this  time,  as  is  common  to  most  or  all 
youths,  I  fell  into  many  vices  and  follies;  but  as  my 
accusers  are,  and  have  been  forward  to  accuse  me  of 
being  guilty  of  gross  and  outrageous  violations  of  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  the  community,  I  take  the 
occasion  to  remark  that,  though,  as  I  have  said  above, 
'as  is  common  to  most,  or  all  youths,  I  fell  into  many 
vices  and  follies,'  I  have  not,  neither  can  it  be  sus- 
tained, in  truth,  been  guilty  of  wronging  or  injuring 
any  man  or  society  of  men;  and  those  imperfections 
to  which  I  allude,  and  for  which  I  have  often  had 
occasion  to  lament,  were  a  light,  and  too  often,  vain 
mind,  exhibiting  a  foolish  and  trifling  conversation. 

"This  being  all,  and  the  worst,  that  my  accusers 
can  substantiate  against  my  moral  character,  I  wish 
to  add,  that  it  is  not  without  a  deep  feeling  of  regret 
that  I  am  thus  called  upon  in  answer  to  my  own  con- 
science, to  fulfill  a  duty  I  owe  to  myself,  as  well  as  to 
the  cause  of  truth,  in  making  this  public  confession 
of  my  former  uncircumspect  walk,  and  unchaste  con- 
versation: and  more  particularly,  as  I  often  acted  in 
violation  of  those  holy  precepts  which  I  knew  came 


18341  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

from  God.  But  as  the  'Articles  and  Covenants'  of  this 
church  are  plain  upon  this  particular  point,  I  do  not 
deem  it  important  to  proceed  further.  I  only  add  that 
I  do  not,  nor  never  have,  pretended  to  be  any  other 
than  a  man  'subject  to  passion,'  and  liable,  without 
the  assisting  grace  of  the  Savior,  to  deviate  from  that 
perfect  path  in  which  all  men  are  commanded  to  walk ! 

"By  giving  the  above  a  place  in  your  valuable 
paper,  you  will  confer  a  lasting  favor  upon  myself, 
as  an  individual,  and,  as  I  humbly  hope,  subserve  the 
cause  of  righteousness. 

"I  am,  with  feelings  of  esteem,  your  fellow  laborer 
in  the  gospel  of  our  Lord, 

"JOSEPH  SMITH,  JR." 
-Taken  from  Messenger  and  Advocate,  vol.  1,  p.  40. 

On  the  evening  of  November  29,  1834,  Joseph 
Smith  and  Oliver  Cowdery  entered  into  this  covenant 
with  the  Lord : 

"That  if  the  Lord  will  prosper  us  in  our  business, 
and  open  the  way  before  us,  that  we  may  obtain  means 
to  pay  our  debts,  that  we  be  not  trou- 
bled nor  brought  into  disrepute  before     ^v°e™ennt  make 
the  world,  nor  his  people ;  after  that,  of 
all  that  he  shall  give  us,  we  will  give  a  tenth,  to  be 
bestowed  upon  the  poor  in  his  church,  or  as  he  shall 
command ;  and  that  we  will  be  faithful  over  that  which 
he  has  intrusted  to  our  care,  that  we  may  obtain  much ; 
and  that  our  children  after  us,  shall  remember  to 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

observe  this  sacred  and  holy  covenant;  and  that  our 
children,  and  our  children's  children,  may  know  of  the 
same,  we  have  subscribed  our  names  with  our  own 
hands. 

"JOSEPH  SMITH,  JR. 

"OLIVER  COWDERY/' 


1834]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  39. 

Saints  Invited  to  Leave  Clay  County. 

IN  MISSOURI,  the  church  was  trying  to  get  permis- 
sion to  go  to  their  homes  in  Jackson  County,  even  ask- 
ing to  be  allowed  to  go  and  get  their  wheat  and  other 
crops.  There  was  to  be  an  election  in  Missouri  soon, 
and  every  man  loves  his  right  to  vote.  No  man  is 
considered  too  old  or  too  silly  to  vote.  He  may  be  too 
wicked,  and  if  his  wickedness  is  proven,  he  may  not 
vote,  but  few  men  should  miss  a  chance  to  vote,  espe- 
cially when  so  much  depends  on  the  results  of  the 
election  as  did  at  this  time  in  Missouri. 

But  the  Saints  were  advised  by  the  leading  men  of 
the  church  in  Missouri  to  stay  away  from  the  polls 
and  not  to  vote.  This  was  advice,  you 
see;  it  was  not  a  command,  nor  a  law, 
and  that  it  was  given  so  kindly  and  lis- 
tened to  with  the  same  spirit  shows  that  the  Saints 
wanted  to  live  at  peace.  There  was  much  to  puzzle 
and  worry  the  Saints  even  had  their  enemies  let  them 
alone. 

There  was  a  rush  for  land  in  the  West  (then  Mis- 
souri) at  this  time.  The  prairies  were  not  considered 
as  good  land  as  that  partly  timbered,  for  one  thing, 
because  of  the  lack  of  water.  There  were  some 
springs,  but  they  were  usually  in  the  wooded  lands,  or 
close  to  streams.  The  mills  for  grinding  grain  and 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

sawing  lumber  were  run  by  water  power,  and  that 
made  the  rivers  and  deep  creeks  very  necessary  to 
settlements.  Of  course,  they  could  use  horse  power, 
the  run-around  kind,  but  it  was  slow  and  inconvenient. 
There  was  a  small  steam  sawr-  and  grist-mill  in 
Clay  County,  a  steam  sawmill  at  Lexington,  about 
forty  miles  from  Liberty,  and  a  flour- 
ing  mil1  almost  finished  on  the  Little 
Blue  (a  small  river)  east  of  Independ- 
ence, in  Jackson  County.  Another  disadvantage  of 
the  prairie  land:  there  was  nothing  to  make  rails  of, 
for  fencing,  and  no  fuel  nor  logs  for  building.  Still 
these  settlers  found  it 
pleasant,  not  having  to 
dig  out  roots  and  stumps 
to  make  fields  for  wheat 
and  corn. 

There  was  no  place  to 
prepare  wool  for  cloth  in 
the  country  near  them, 

and     bridges      and      roads  Woodland   close  to  stream. 

were  not  provided.  There 

was  some  complaint  that  there  were  no  stones  in  the 
land,  not  even  enough  for  use  in  making  chimneys, 
etc.  But  they  soon  discovered  that  grain  was  raised 
easily,  so  easily  that  man  could  live  as  well  on  three 
days'  work  in  a  week  as  on  six  days  in  some  more  dis- 
tant places.  Corn  at  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  and  wheat 
at  forty  cents,  were  the  lowest  selling  prices.  There 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

was  much  fever  and  ague,  however,  in  this  new  coun- 
try, and  they  did  not  know  how  to  prevent  it. 

Most  of  the  Saints  were  gentle,  refined,  reserved 
people,  with  the  habits  and  manners  of  the  East;  the 
Yankee   shrewdness,    shown   in  many, 
and  the  peculiarities  of  their  religion,     fi^S!en°t!  re~ 
made  them  objects  of  distrust,  and  then, 
besides,  the  Missourians  were  slaveholders,  and  the 
Saints  believed  in  the  freedom  of  all  men,  although 
they  did  not  as  a  church  interfere  with  the  slavehold- 
ers.    Since  July,  1833,  they  had  been 
pursued,  and  had  petitioned  every  of-     holders!^ 
ficer,  from  justice  of  the  peace  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  for  justice  but  without 
avail.     The  guns  taken  from  them  were  their  own 
personal  property,  such  as  men  need  in  a  new  and 
wild  country,  and  still  they  waited  for  justice;  and 
now  a  new  trouble  came  to  them. 

The  men  of  Clay  County  kindly  but  very  plainly 
told  them  that  it  would  be  better  for  all  if  they  moved 
away.  The  Saints  they  had  found  __ 

New  trouble. 

pleasant  and  honorable  men,  but  the 
Jackson  County  spirit  was  filling  the  country,  and 
Clay  County  must  either  join  with  the  "Mormons" 
or  let  the  mob  come  upon  the  people  there.  They 
asked  the  Saints  to  sell  out,  and  offered  to  send  a 
committee  of  men  from  Liberty  with  a  committee 
of  Saints  to  hunt  for  a  new  place.  They  suggested 
that  the  Saints  go  to  Wisconsin,  then  a  Territory. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1834 

They  offered  to  raise  money  by  asking  the  people  for 
it,  to  help  the  poor  Saints  move  away;  the  elders  were 


Site  of   Far  West, ,  Missouri. 

to  give  them  names  of  the  poor  and  those  unable  to 
do  without  this  help. 

The  Saints  were  in  a  poor  way  to  move  to  any 

place,  surely  unable  to  go  so  far  as  Wisconsin.    Their 

horses  and  cattle  had  most  of  them  been 

stolen  by the  mob> and  what  ^ioney  they 

had  was  invested  in  Jackson  County 
land.  Some  were  landowners  in  Clay  County,  but 
the  people  of  Clay  County  bought  their  land  (at  a 


1834]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

low  price,  however),  and  the  joint  committee  found 
a  place  north  and  a  little  east  of  Jackson  and  Clay  in 
a  new  country,  mostly  prairie.  There  were  few  peo- 
ple living  there,  such  as  were  being  hunters  and  trap- 
pers and  honey  men  (men  who  gathered  wild  honey 
for  the  market),  for  the  most  part.  These  men  sold 
what  interest  they  had,  and  the  Saints  settled  on  the 
prairies.  Among  the  long,  rich,  abundant  prairie 
grasses  they  camped  in  tents  and  wagons  until  homes 
could  be  built.  Along  the  banks  of  beautiful  Shoal 
Creek  they  built  log  houses  and  mills,  and  very  soon 
schoolhouses.  One  of  the  first  houses  of 
any  consequence  was  a  schoolhouse.  and°millsUS 
This  was  indeed  "Far  West"  for  those 
times,  and  thus  it  was  called,  the  name  fastening  itself 
on  the  settlement  out  on  the  long,  rolling  hills  of  the 
unbroken  prairie. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1836 


CHAPTER  40. 

The  Exodus  to  Far  West. 

THIS  movement  out  of  Clay  County  was  attended 
with  more  suffering  and  loss.  However  kind  the  Clay 
County  people  were,  the  Saints  were  the  losers.  The 
covenant  of  peace  between  Clay  County  and  the 
church  was  bought  at  a  price,  and  the  Saints  paid  it. 
True,  they  were  allowed  years,  if  they  wanted  them,  in 
which  to  sell  their  land,  but  they  agreed  to  go.  This 
was  in  July,  1836.  Three  years  now  they  had  waited 
in  Clay  County  for  the  execution  of  the  law  to  protect 
them  on  their  farms  in  Jackson  County,  just  over  the 
river. 

It  was  not  alone  these  who  had  been  mobbed  out  of 
Jackson  that  made  the  mob  wild  with  hatred.  There 
were  Saints  moving  into  Clay  from  other  places,  and 
the  mob  feared  they  would  grow  so  strong  they  would 
be  able  to  defend  themselves  and  get  back  into  Jack- 
son County  and  stay  there.  So  Clay  County  yielded, 
in  fear,  and  turned  this  tide  of  honest,  earnest,  indus- 
trious people  away  from  her  borders.  But  there  were 
some  men  true  to  honor  in  Clay  County.  They 
started  the  thought  of  making  a  new 
Saints.8  t0  county  for  the  Saints.  Up  where  they 
were  settling,  in  Ray  County,  there  was 
enough  land  to  make  three  counties.  Alexander 
Doniphan,  one  of  the  lawyers  who  was  helping  the 
Saints,  thought  he  saw  a  way  out  of  the  trouble.  He 


1836]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

knew  that  some  men  would  do  anything  against  the 
Saints,  so  he  went  to  the  capital  of  Missouri  and  asked 
for  two  new  counties,  one  for  the  Saints,  and  the  other 
for  anybody.    He  was  an  eloquent  and 
brilliant-minded  man,  and  he  used  his     Doniiphfiu    W* 
wonderful  powers  of  mind  and  voice  to 
get  this  county  made.    The  church  was  to  elect  all  the 
officers  for  the  new  county. 

It  was  a  day  of  gladness  when  the  law  was  passed, 
and  they  felt  as  if  their  troubles  were  over  in  that  part 
of  the  world.  They  had  settled  all  over  the  country 
around  there,  and  many  of  them  were  outside  the  new 
county,  but  they  kept  the  agreement  of  the  church  that 
they  must  get  the  consent  from  two  thirds  of  the  peo- 
ple (who  were  not  "Mormons")  to  let  them  stay. 
They  built  houses  and  barns  and  got  ready  for  winter, 
for  this  was  in  the  hot  month  of  August.  In  a  few 
months  there  were  several  hundred  new  buildings  in 
the  new  county.  Of  course  the  new 
county  was  not  all  arranged  for  and 
decided  upon  until  December,  1836, 
when  the  state  legislature  met  in  Jefferson  City. 

The  new  county  was  named  Caldwell.  The  name 
was  in  honor  of  Captain  Caldwell,  an  old  friend  of 
General  Doniphan's  father.  In  August,  the  town  of 
Far  West  had  been  laid  out.  It  was  a  beautiful  place 
for  a  town;  and  there  were  to  be  wide  avenues  and 
streets,  and  a  temple  in  the  center  of  the  town.  They 
had  built  a  large  and  comfortable  schoolhouse,  and 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1836 

they  used  it  for  meetings  of  every  kind.  It  stood  in 
the  southwestern  part  of  town.  There  were  many 
school-teachers  among  the  Saints,  and  they  believed 
in  the  education  of  all,  old  and  young.  When  a 
county  seat  was  selected,  of  course  Far  West  was  the 
choice,  and  then  the  schoolhouse  was  moved  onto  the 
public  square  and  they  held  court  in  it.  John  Whit- 
mer's  house  was  built  in  January,  and  many  other 
good  houses  were  built. 

The  people  were  happy,  and  were  full  of  the  west- 
ern spirit  of  energy,  combined  with  the  eastern  spirit 
of  thrift  and  economy  and  endurance. 

All  the  townships  and  their  officers  were  appointed, 
and  the  county  had  its  own  militia  or  soldiers,  nearly 
all  Saints,  with  Lyman  Wight  colonel,  and  George 
Hinkle  his  lieutenant.  The  guns  and  other  necessary 
things  were  furnished  by  the  State,  and  everything 
arranged  according  to  the  law  of  the  State  of  Missouri. 

Children  caught  the  new  feeling  of  hope  and  free- 
dom, and  all  were  happier  than  for  any  time  in  the 
last  three  trying  years.  They  remem- 

The  children.        ,  J .  f  •       T     i 

bered  some  of  those  scenes  in  Jackson 
and  Clay  with  wonderful  vividness,  and  told  them  to 
their  grandchildren  many  years  afterward.  How 
good  it  was  to  be  free  from  persecution  and  enjoy 
life  in  peace.  Let  us  leave  them  there  by  the  warm 
fires  in  their  open  fireplaces,  and  go  back  to  Kirtland. 
There  must  be  something  interesting  being  done  there, 
for  these  people  were  always  doing  something  to  make 
the  church  grow. 


1835J  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  41. 

The  Choosing  of  the  Twelve  Apostles. 

IN  KIRTLAND  we  find  the  church  very  busy  indeed. 
This  church  was  to  be  fully  organized,  like  the  one 
Jesus  set  up.  He  had  twelve  men  who  were  known 
as  his  apostles.  They  were  not  to  do  work  exactly 
like  the  High  Council,  but  they  were  called  a  Trav- 
eling High  Council,  and  the  others  were  a  Standing 
High  Council.  These  men  had  never  been  chosen  or 
ordained.  On  February  14,  1835,  a  meeting  was 
called  of  the  elders  who  had  been  in  the  "Camp  of 
Zion." 

There  had  been  a  revelation  in  June,  1829,  six  years 
before,  telling  about  these  Twelve  Apostles  who  were 
to  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  of  Jesus.  So  the  people  knew 
about  it.  Joseph  Smith  asked  them  if 
they  were  willing  to  let  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  show 
who  these  twelve  men  were  to  be,  and  the  elders  said 
they  were  willing.  The  hymn,  "Hark,  listen  to  the 
trumpeters,"  was  sung,  and  then  Hyrum  Smith 
prayed,  and  the  meeting  closed  for  one  hour. 

The  next  meeting  was  opened  by  prayer,  and  then 
the  three  witnesses  to  the  Book  of  Mormon  each 
prayed — Oliver  Cowdery,  David  Whitmer,  and  Mar- 
tin Harris,  one  after  the  other.  Then  the  Presidents 
of  the  church  blessed  them  by  the  laying  on  of  hands, 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1835 

and  the  three  witnesses  then  chose  the  Twelve.  This 
was  by  the  command  of  God.  The  names  they  called 
were: 

1.  Lyman  E.  Johnson.     7.  William  E.  McLellin. 

2.  Brigham  Young.          8.  John  F.  Boynton. 

3.  Heber  C.  Kimball.       9.  Orson  Pratt. 

4.  Orson  Hyde.  10.  William  Smith. 

5.  David  W.  Patten.      11.  Thomas  B.  Marsh. 

6.  Luke  Johnson.  12.  Parley  P.  Pratt. 
The  "witnesses"  then  laid  their  hands  on  the  head 

of  Lyman  Johnson,  then  Brigham  Young,  and  then 
Heber  C.  Kimball,  and  prayed.  The  next  day,  six  of 
the  others  were  blessed  and  ordained  in  the  same  way. 
On  February  21,  P.  P.  Pratt  was  ordained  one  of  the 
Twelve  by  Joseph  Smith,  Oliver  Cowdery,  and  David 
Whitmer.  Thomas  B.  Marsh  and  Orson  Pratt  were 
away  on  a  mission.  They  came  back  to  Kirtland  in 
April,  and  were  ordained. 

These  twelve  men  had  a  wonderful  blessing,  for 
they  were  chosen  and  ordained  by  men  who  had  been 
given  the  right  and  power  to  do  it  by  an  angel  of  God. 

They  were  to  preach  to  the  nations  of 
Twelve1!  °f  the  earth  everywhere  they  could  go, 

and  they  were  to  tell  about  the  Book  of 
Mormon  and  how  true  it  was,  but  their  mission  was 
to  make  men  better,  always  repenting,  always  turn- 
ing from  bad  things  to  good  ones.  To  be  true  apos- 
tles, they  must  have  a  sincere  desire  to  do  all  these 
things  and  be  humble  and  clean  in  body  and  mind. 


1835]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

It  was  a  hard  work  to  do,  but  some  one  must  do  it. 
There  would  be  trials  and  persecution,  but  there  would 
be  gladness  and  joy,  too.  They  might  even  be  good 
enough  to  see  the  face  of  God.  The  Twelve  took 
turns  presiding,  one  at  one  meeting,  next  oldest  at 
another.  These  men  chose  Orson  Hyde  and  William 
McLellin  for  clerks.  There  were  more  men  than  these 
needed  to  preach  to  the  nations  of  this  world ;  so,  like 
the  church  of  Jesus,  there  were  chosen  men  for  a 
quorum  called  the  Seventies.  These  men  were  to  go 
wherever  the  Twelve  called  them  to  go. 
The  first  of  the  Seventies  were  called 
and  ordained  February  28,  1835.  There  were  about 
forty-five  of  them. 

When  the  church  was  organized  in  Fayette,  New 
York,  at  the  house  of  Peter  Whitmer,  there  were  but 
six  members.  Slowly  the  different  men  came  into  the 
church,  who  were  fitted  for  the  places  needing  them,— 
bishops  and  high  priests ;  and  while  we  are  near  it,  let 
us  remember  the  Traveling  High  Council  are  all 
high  priests,  as  well  as  the  Standing 

,  '  ,  .    ,  Hiffh  Priests. 

Council.  Many  men  are  high  priests, 
but  there  are  different  things  for  them  to  do.  So  some 
are  bishops,  apostles,  patriarchs,  etc.  All  these  things 
are  fixed  in  the  church  to  make  it  orderly,  and  help 
place  men  where  they  can  enjoy  the  work  they  can 
do  best.  Thus  we  see  the  church  filling  up  important 
places  that  they  may  do  important  work. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1835 


CHAPTER  42. 

The  Work  in  Kirtland. 

IN  KIRTLAND, 
the  Temple  was 
still  the  most  im- 
portant work  to  be 
done  with  their 
hands,  and  the  peo- 
ple voted  to  go  on 
and  work  at  it  un- 

View  of  Kirtland  Temple.  til    it    Was   finished. 

Sidney  Rigdon,  at  a  meeting  there,  was  appointed  to 
lay  on  hands  and  bless  those  who  worked  on  the  build- 
ing or  helped  in  any  way  toward  building  the  Temple. 
This  was  done  Sunday  afternoon,  March  8,  1835. 

In  this  work  of  the  Temple,  Sidney 
aidnTempfed0n  Rigdon  appears  to  have  taken  the  keen- 

est delight;  oftentimes  in  the  night,  he 
went"  to  the  unfinished  house,  to  pray  and  weep  for 
the  fulfillment  of  God's  promise  to  build  this  Temple. 
We  read  of  the  Jews  weeping  over  a  broken  and 
ruined  temple,  but  this  man  wept  over  and  prayed  for 
this  wall  of  the  new,  unfinished  Temple  of  God  in 
America. 

There  were  many  councils  held  in  Kirtland,  now. 
The  Twelve  and  Seventy  were  learning  their  new 
duties,  and  more  of  the  Seventy  were  ordained.  All 


1835]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

this  you  know  was  while  the  Saints  in  Missouri  were 
still  in  Clay  County,  and  they  were  not  forgotten  by 
these  busy  ministers  in  Kirtland.  At  a  conference 
held  May  11,  1835,  they  passed  a  reso- 
lution to  appoint  wise  men  to  gather  up 
all  the  riches  they  could  among  their 
members  and  send  them  to  Zion  to  purchase  lands  so 
the  people  could  gather  there. 

We  can  guess  how  gladly  the  Saints  in  Missouri 
hailed  every  bit  of  news  that  made  the  future  look 
brighter  to  them.  Already  W.  W.  Phelps  and  John 
Whitmer  were  on  their  way  to  Kirtland,  and  arrived 
there  soon  after  these  wise  men  were  appointed  to 
gather  up  the  riches.  John  Whitmer  was  made  editor 
of  the  monthly  church  paper,  the  Messenger  and  Ad- 
vocate, instead  of  Oliver  Cowdery,  and  F.  G.  Wil- 
liams became  editor  of  a  weekly  newspaper  the  church 
had  commenced  in  February,  1835,  in  favor  of  Democ- 
racy, called  the  Northern  Times. 

W.  W.  Phelps  assisted  the  committee  in  preparing 
the  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants.  He  and  his 
son  Waterman  lived  during  this  time 
with  Joseph  Smith's  family,  having  left 
the  rest  of  his  family  in  Clay  County. 

May  25,  1835,  Brigham  Young  was  sent  to  the 
Indians — then  called  the  remnant  of  Joseph.  Elders 
John  P.  Green  and  Amos  Orton  were  to  go  with  him. 
There  was  great  need  of  money  to  help  build  the 
Temple.  Extra  efforts  were  made,  and  June  18,  the 


192  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1835 

Kirtland  Saints  promised  nine  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars, and  Thursday,  June  25,  there  was  a  temple  meet- 
ing held,  and  the  people  were  astonished  at  the  amount 
of  $6,232.50,  paid  in  less  than  an  hour  for  the 
Temple. 

In  September,  at  a  conference  in  Kirtland,  councils 

were  organized  for  both  Kirtland  and  Missouri.    The 

committee  reported  the  Doctrine  and 

Covenants   ready,   and  the  revelations 

and  doctrines  in  it  were  made  church  laws  by  vote  of 

the  quorums  and  people.  You  remember  Oliver  Cow- 

dery  and  John  Whitmer  took  the  revelations  to  Zion 

to  publish  them  in  1833,  but  the  printing  press  and 

the  office  were  torn  to  pieces  by  the  mob,  in  July,  1833. 

The  mob  tried  to  spoil  everything  they  could  find,  but 

a  few  of  the  unfinished  Books  of  Commandments  were 

saved  by  people  who  picked  them  up  in  Missouri  at 

the  time.     The  church  had  not  agreed  to  make  the 

Book  of  Commandments  a  law,  but  all 

the  quorums  and  then  all  the  church  and 

the  committee  said  the  Book  of  Covenants  should  be 

one  of  the  books  to  guide  the  church;  of  course,  you 

know  the  Bible  and  Book  of  Mormon  are  the  other 

two. 

W.  W.  Phelps  thought  the  Book  of  Covenants  bet- 
ter than  the  Book  of  Commandments,  and  he  helped 
with  both.  It  is  the  rule  of  the  church  for  all  the 
church  to  vote  if  there  is  a  new  -revelation,  saying 
whether  they  think  it  should  become  a  law  or  not.  At 


JSS,|  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

the  time  the  church  accepted  the  Doctrine  and  Cove- 
nants, they  voted  on  a  marriage  law  that  said  that  one 

man  should  have  just  one  wife,  and  one 

i      i_      j        i  s  j.i 

woman  one  husband,  unless  one  or  the 

two  died;  then  the  one  left  might  marry  again.  They 
declare  in  this  law  that  they  do  not,  and  never  did 
believe  that  any  man  should  have  more  than  one  wife. 
If  his  wife  died  he  could  marry  another  one,  and  the 
same  way  with  a  woman  about  her  husband. 

It  was  in  September,  1835,  that  Oliver  Cowdery  was 
chosen  "recorder  for  the  church,"  and  Emma  Smith 
was  asked  to  make  a  selection  of  sacred    Recorder 
hymns.    W.  W.  Phelps  was  to  get  them    chosen' 
ready  and  print  them.    This  little  book  had  the  words 
of  the  hymns,  but  not  the  music.  They  trusted  to  the 
memory  of  the  leaders  for  the  tunes.    They  met,  and 
those  who  could  read  music  practiced 
the  hymns,  and  they  sang  very  often  by 
the  Spirit,  letting  that  give  them  words 
and  music.    There  were  many  excellent  singers  among 
the  church  members.     The  Youngs  were  noted  for 
their  beautiful  singing,  and  Emma  Smith  had  an  un- 
usually fine,  clear,  high  soprano  voice. 

No  doubt,  Parley  Pratt  sang  well  and  composed 
some  fine  hymns,  but  the  tunes  were  old  ones;  there 
are  left  to  our  use  some  beautiful  hymns  composed  by 
W.  W.  Phelps  and  others.  Indeed,  there  are  no 
greater  favorites  in  our  congregations  to-day  than 
some  of  the  songs  written  by  W.  W.  Phelps.  There 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1835 

is  possibly  never  a  prayer  or  sacrament  meeting  with- 
out the  use  of  one  to  four  of  his  hymns.  Especially 
suited  to  the  hopes  and  faith  of  the  church,  they  ring 
true  and  pleasant  now,  as  when  sung  by  the  old 
church.  Who  does  not  love  "Redeemer  of  Israel,"  or 
"Great  is  the  Lord,"  and  "Oh  God,  the  Eternal 
Father,"  and  "Jesus  the  Giver,"  and  Parley  Pratt's 
hymn,  "The  morning  breaks,  the  shadows  flee"? 


1835]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  43. 

Saints  Busy  in  Kirtland. 

NOAH  PACKARD  loaned  the  temple  committee  one 
thousand  dollars  to  help  on  the  work  of  building,  and 
from  Joseph  Smith's  journal  we  find  him  rejoicing 
over  it,  but  praying  that  God  would  give  him  means 
until  he  could  pay  all  debts  of  the  church. 

The  elders  talked  much  of  what  to  do  for  the  Saints 
in  Zion,  and  finally  they  began,  in  the  pleasant  fall 
weather,  September  24,  to  write  a  list  of  names  of 
those  who  were  willing  to  go  up  to  Missouri  the  next 
spring,  for  God  had  commanded  them  to  gather  in 
that  place,  and  they  still  hoped  to  get  the  lands  they 
had  bought  in  Jackson  County.  They  wanted  to  get 
eight  or  ten  hundred  to  go  to  the  new 
land.  The  Twelve  were  told  through 
Joseph  Smith  by  the  Spirit  that  it  was  their  duty  to 
go  to  Zion  the  next  spring,  and  take  their  families 
with  them. 

In  October,  1835,  Warren  Parrish  began  writing 
for  Joseph  Smith.  He  was  to  be  paid  fifteen  dollars 
per  month.  There  was  at  this  time  about  one  thou- 
sand Saints  in  the  neighborhood  of  Kirtland,  and  five 
or  six  hundred  who  attended  church  in  Kirtland.  Peo- 
ple owned  their  own  homes  and  farms  the  same  as  in 
other  places,  and  sometimes  the  people  disagreed,  but 
they  settled  their  troubles  and  lived  together  the  best 
they  could,  forgiving  and  being  forgiven. 


196  YOUNG    PKOPLK'S    HISTORY  |  1835 

The  year  1835  was  nearly  gone;  indeed,  it  was  in 
November  when  the  Kirtland  Saints  were  rejoiced  to 
meet  Lyman  Wight  from  Missouri,  with  news  from 
the  troubled  and  persecuted  Saints ;  but  there  was  lit- 
tle to  encourage  or  comfort  the  people  about  things 
in  Missouri.  You  know  how  they  were  waiting  in 
Clay  County,  hoping  that  the  governor  or  President 
would  come  to  their  help. 

People  thought  it  strange  that  any  man  would  say 
that  God  spoke  to  him.  Sometimes  they  came  a  long 

way  to  see  Joseph  Smith,  and  would  be 
proph<^f. "*  surprised  because  he  was  just  a  man,— 

a  tall,  strong  man,  with  a  big  brain,  a 
pleasant  smile,  and  a  cheerful  voice.  They  forgot 
about  the  prophets  of  which  the  Bible  tells  us,  who 
were  men  like  other  good  men  in  their  looks  and  ac- 
tions, but  God  spoke  to  them  and  gave  them  visions 
and  revelations.  Joseph  Smith  thought  that  perhaps 
his  work  was  about  finished  when  he  left  the  Saints 
in  Missouri,  but  he  still  found  much  to  do. 

The  masons  were  putting  the  last  coat  of  plaster- 
ing on  the  inside  of  the  Temple,  and  not  much  else 

could  be  done  at  that  time.  The  elders 
Mtelouri?111  were  studying  Hebrew  in  their  school. 

During  the  winter,  Harvey  Redfield, 
Jesse  Hitchcock,  Robert  Rathbone,  and  George 
Morey  came  in  through  the  cold  and  snow  from  Mis- 
souri. They,  like  Lyman  Wight,  brought  no  hope  of 
getting  back  into  Jackson  County. 


1835]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

The  young  scribe  of  Joseph  Smith,  Warren  Par- 
rish,  was  married  during  this  month  to  Martha  H. 
Raymond.     This  wedding  was  performed  by  Joseph 
Smith  at  the  home  of  Thomas  Carrico.     There  was, 
you  see,  much  happiness  as  well  as  work  among  this 
people.     Children  played  and  studied 
and  helped  in  the  homes,  and  there  were     Saints  happy, 
gatherings  for  pleasure,  songs,  music, 
and  reading.     The  fact  that  they  were  building  the 
foundation  for  the  church  of  God  did  not  keep  them 
from  being  happy-hearted,  cheerful,  and  good  com- 
pany.    It  made  life  really  more  dear  and  beautiful 
and  full  of  meaning  to  them. 

So  it  was  that  Christmas  time  in  Ohio,  Missouri, 
Maine,  Michigan,  New  York,  Canada,  Tennessee, 
South  Carolina,  in  fact  everywhere,  the  Saints  found 
the  day  meant  more  than  ever  before  to  them,  for 
Jesus  the  Savior  seemed  nearer  since  he  had  again 
spoken  to  men  on  earth,  and  they  loved  him  more  be- 
cause of  it,  and  the  more  anyone  loves  Jesus,  the  bet- 
ter he  will  love  all  mankind.  That  is  a  wonderful 
thing  about  loving  God.  It  makes  us  see  the  good  in 
everything  and  everybody,  and  the  bad  looks  so  bad 
that  we  can  not  fail  to  know  it  is  bad. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1836 


CHAPTER  44. 

The   West    Attic   Room   in   the   Temple. 

IT  WAS  January  4,  the 
middle  of  the  winter  of 
1836,  when  the  Temple  was 
first  occupied  by  an  elders' 
school.  They  were  studying 
Hebrew  now.  The  Hebrew 
class  met  in  what  was  called 
the  translating  room.  It 

Writing  table  and  chair  of         Wfls    fftp    wesf    room    in    the 
Father  Smith  in  Temple. 

upper  part  of  the  Temple. 

The  rain  had  been  driving  from  the  lake  like  sheets 
of  cold,  gray  mist  for  days.  The  roads  were  muddy 
and  the  country  looked  dreary  as  winter  can  make  it, 
but  this  morning  the  wind  was  down  and  the  rain  fell 
with  a  soft,  murmuring  sound  as  the  elders  knelt  and 
Father  Smith  prayed  that  the  room 
might  be  kept  for  good  and  sacred  pur- 
poses. Father  Smith  was  the  Prophet's  father.  Peo- 
ple called  him  father  in  a  loving  way,  because  he  was 
so  fatherly  and  kind,  and  he  was  like  a  church  father 
of  the  Saints.  It  was  a  good  thing  to  have  him  make 
the  offering  prayer  for  this  little  room.  God  must 
have  been  pleased,  for  he  was  humble  and  honest  and 
kind. 

On  the  twenty-first  day  of  that  very  month,  in  that 


1836] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


199 


west  room  upstairs,  the  Presidents  of  the  church  met 
and  ordained  Joseph  Smith,  senior,  Patriarch  of  the 
whole  church.  He  having  been  ordained  a  patriarch 
December  18,  1833.  Now,  indeed,  he  was  the  church 
father  of  all  the  Saints.  He  was  the  right  man  for 
this  place,  for  he  was  loving 
and  kind,  and  very  careful 
of  little  children.  Men  and 
women  found  it  easy  to  go  to 
him  and  tell  their  troubles  and 
ask  him  what  was  best  to  do. 
He  was  not  afraid  to  say, 

tt-*-r          f  i  1he  west  attic  room  of,  the 

You  did  wrong,    for  he  knew  Temple, 

he  could  tell  men  a  better  way  to  do.  It  was  not  all  of 
his  work  to  bless  people.  That  was  a  very  beautiful 
and  solemn  part  of  his  work.  He  must  advise  and 
preach  and  point  out  dangers  to  people  just  like  a 
real  father  would  do  with  his  children.  It  was  in  that 
upper  west  room  of  the  Temple  that  Father  Smith 
gave  his  first  church  blessings  upon  the  President  of 
the  Church  and  the  Bishopric. 

While  there  that  day,  they  had  visions,  and  angels 
came  to  them,  and  the  glory  of  God  was  there.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  wonderful 
meeting  and  blessings  in  the  Temple. 
Some  of  the  elders  saw  the  face  of  the 
Savior,  and  they  shouted  and  sang  hosanna  to  God; 
and  there  were  angels  there  with  them,  and  they  sang 
with  them  for  half  an  hour.  It  was  two  o'clock  in  the 


1836]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  201 

morning  when  this  wonderful  meeting  closed,  and  the 
elders  went  home. 

After  this,  the  Hebrew  school  had  a  professor  from 
a  college  to  teach  them,  and  they  met  from  ten  to 
eleven  in  the  morning,  and  from  two  to  five  in  the 
afternoon.  These  men  were  determined  to  make 
themselves  ready  to  tell  the  story  of  the  gospel  as 
clearly  and  beautifully  as  possible. 

It  was  in  January  in  a  council  meeting,  Elder 
Phelps  told  the  elders  about  the  death  of  Christian 
Whitmer.  You  remember  he  was  one 

n     ,         .    i          .  .         f   .  ,  «    ,      Witness   dies. 

ol  the  eight  witnesses,  a  quiet,  faithiul 
man.  He  had  died  November  7,  1835,  in  Missouri. 
He  had  been  lame  for  a  number  of  years,  and  the  ex- 
posure he  suffered  in  the  Jackson  County  trouble 
afterward  made  this  lameness  so  bad  that  it  killed  him 
while  waiting  in  Clay  County  for  the  settlement  of 
troubles  there.  He  had  been  a  good  church  officer,  but 
we  notice  him  more  than  for  any  other  reason  for  his 
faithful  testimony  as  one  of  the  "eight  witnesses"  that 
he  had  seen  the  gold  plates  and  knew  that  the  Book 
of  Mormon  was  a  true  record  of  them.  Christian 
Whitmer's  wife  went  back  and  lived  with  her  parents, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Schott,  in  Seneca  County,  New  York, 
for  she  had  no  children. 


202  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1836 


CHAPTER  45. 

The  Temple. 

AND  NOW  we  come  to  the  work  of  the  Temple  again. 
On  November  2,  1835,  they  had  commenced  to  put  a 
coat  of  hard  plaster  on  the  outside  of  the  Temple,  and 
on  Friday,  January  8,  1836,  it  was  finished.  This 
plaster  is  a  wonderful  thing.  It  was  hard  and  firm  as 
stone,  and  we  will  see  in  another  chapter  how  it  stood 
both  weather  and  time,  and  why  it  was  so  beautiful. 
Artemus  Ward  and  Lorenzo  Young  were  to  do  this 
work  for  one  thousand  dollars.  Jacob  Bump  had  the 
job  of  the  inside  plastering,  for  which  he  was  to  get 
fifteen  hundred  dollars.  He  commenced  November 
9,  1835,  but  did  not  finish  so  soon  as  the  others. 

There  were  many  things  to  do  now  to  get  ready  to 
dedicate  the  Temple.    Thomas  Carrico  was  appointed 
doorkeeper  in  the  House  of  the  Lord.    A  set  of  rules 
was  made  in  order  to  keep  the  Temple 
clean  and  orderly  and  quiet.     The  chil- 
dren were  not  to  romp  and  play  in  it.     The  older 
people  were  to  be  polite  and  gentle  to  each  other. 

When  a  man  was  speaking  or  preaching,  all  others 
were  to  keep  from  whispering  or  laughing  or  running 
in  or  out.  There  was  to  be  no  cutting  or  marking  the 
house  anywhere,  or  the  furniture  in  it.  All  persons, 
whether  church  people  or  not,  were  to  be  treated  with 


1836]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  203 

respect,  and  everyone  had  a  right  there  who  kept  these 
rules  and  behaved  properly. 

John  Corrill  had  charge  of  the  Temple,  and  other 
doorkeepers  were  appointed.     In  those  early  days  of 
the  church  we  notice  the  leading  men  often  admitting 
they  have  been  wrong,  unkind,  unjust, 
or  too  quick  to  get  angry,  and  the  good     giveness.°r 
thing  about  it  all  is  they  asked  forgive- 
ness of  each  other.    Of  course  some  were  afraid  some- 
body else  had  a  higher  place  than  they  did,  and  that 
made  some  heartache,  but  this  willingness  to  try  to 
make  things  right  brought  much  joy  and  love  to  the 
church.    Everyone  who  is  happy  has  learned  the  true 
meaning  of  the  text,  "In  love  preferring  one  another." 

It  was  after  the  elders  of  all  the  quorums  had  be- 
come humble  in  this  way  that  they  met  again  in  the 
Temple  to  be  blessed  for  their  work  as  men  of  God. 
The  upper  rooms  of  the  Temple  are  small;  that  is, 
they  are  as  long  as  the  Temple  itself  is  wide.  They 
are  sometimes  called  "loft  rooms,"  or  "attic  rooms." 
The  very  west  one,  we  have  learned  some  pleasant 
things  about  in  another  chapter.  To  reach  it  you  must 
now  go  through  all  the  rest.  On  the  evening  of  Jan- 
uary 28,  1836,  the  Quorum  of  High  Priests  met  at 
"early  candle-light"  in  one  end  of  this  room,  and  the 
elders'  quorum  in  the  other  end.  In  the  other  rooms 
other  quorums  met,  and  God  blessed  them  with  visions 
and  understanding  of  their  duty  to  each  other  and  to 
all  men. 


204  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1836 

Our  young  people  will  be  interested  in  the  president 
of  the  High  Priests'  Quorum  when  I  tell  them  that  he 

was  just  twenty  years  old,  and  had  been 
Young  men.  ,  .          .          ,  £  .._. 

preaching  since  he  was  fourteen.    Most 

of  the  men  in  the  quorums  there  were  young  men.  It 
was  like  a  splendid  army  of  young  men,  with  here  and 
there  a  gray  head  or  an  older  man  as  counselor,  and 
everyone  felt  brave  and  fearless  as  he  left  those  upper 
rooms  of  the  Temple. 

Many  of  the  elders  had  learned  enough  of  Hebrew 
so  they  could  read  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  they  were 
delighted  with  the  study;  but  the  lower  room  of  the 
Temple  was  now  ready  for  painting,  and  that  took 
some  away  from  the  school.  Brigham  Young  had 
charge  of  the  painting  until  it  was  finished.  The  veil 
or  curtain  for  the  Temple  was  made  by  the  sisters  on 
the  twenty-second  day  of  February,  the  birthday  of 
their  country's  Father,  General  George  Washington. 
Father  Smith  met  with  them,  conducting  the  opening 
and  closing  of  the  meeting  with  prayer  and  singing. 
And  now,  as  the  winter  was  closing,  there  was  a  feel- 
ing of  gladness  everywhere  at  the  return  of  spring. 


1836] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


205 


CHAPTER  46. 

The  Temple   Finished   and   Dedicated. 

THE  TEMPLE  was  finished,  and  on  Sunday,  March 
27,  1836,  it  was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God.  On 
the  outside,  it  was  fifty-nine  feet  wide  and  seventy- 
nine  feet  long,  but  the  walls  were  two  feet  thick;  that 
left  the  inside  seventy-five  feet  long  and  fifty-five  feet 
wide.  The  doo^  was  in  the  east  end,  and  opened  into 


a  hall  or  vestibule,  and  the  stairs  were  in  these  halls. 
That  left  the  large  rooms  upstairs  and  down  only 
sixty-five  feet  long. 

There  were  three  stories  and  a  basement.    The  first 
floor  was  for  sacrament  and  preaching,  and  like  the 


206  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1836 

main  room  on  the  second  floor,  had  pulpits  in  east  and 
pulpits  in  the  west  end  with  places  for  the  quorums; 
one  in  the  east  was  for  the  Aaronic  priesthood,  the 
west  one  for  the  Melchisedec.  The  second  floor  was 
to  be  dedicated  for  the  School  of  Apostles.  The 
curtain  or  veil  could  be  dropped  between.  The  build- 
ing was  heated  by  fireplaces  at  the  sides  of  the  rooms. 
You  remember  about  the  loft  rooms. 

When   Sunday  came,  the  people  hurried  to  the 

Temple.     It  looked  beautiful,  standing  on  its  high 

place,  its  windows  glistening  in  the  sun. 

Temple  beau-        ^^.^    Q{    ^    within    fl    ^^    wRg    the 

Chagrin  River,  and  six  miles  away  was 
Lake  Erie.  Firm  and  silent  it  looked,  its  thick  stone 
walls  plastered  close  and  smooth  outside  and  inside, 
its  doors  guarded  by  keepers.  By  eight  o'clock  the 
seats  and  aisles  were  filled  and  the  doors  were  closed 
on  the  disappointed  ones  who  were  too  late. 

Sidney  Rigdon  read  the  ninety-sixth  and  twenty- 
fourth  Psalms.  An  "excellent  choir  of  singers,"  led 
by  M.  C.  Davis,  sang,  "Ere  long  the  veil  will  rend  in 
twain,"  written  by  P.  P.  Pratt  to  the  tune  Sterling. 
Then  President  Rigdon  offered  prayer,  and  the  choir 
sang,  "O  happy  souls  that  pray,"  written  by  W.  W. 
Phelps,  to  the  good  old  tune  Weymuth.  Then  Elder 
Rigdon  preached,  telling  over  the  troubles  and  trials 
they  had  had  in  building  this  Temple,  and  many 
other  things  good  to  remember.  His  sermon  lasted 
two  and  one  half  hours.  He  had  been  one  of  the  hard- 


1836]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  207 

est  workers  on  the  Temple;  indeed,  he  was  always 
working  for  it  in  some  way,  and  he  rejoiced  above 
many  others  when  it  was  finished. 

Everything  was  in  order.  God  had  directed  the 
Prophet  what  the  order  should  be,  and  there  was  no 
confusion  or  disturbance.  The  closing  Everything 
hymn  was,  "Now  let  us  rejoice  in  the  in  order- 
day  of  salvation,"  written  by  W.  W.  Phelps,  to  the 
tune  Hosanna.  There  was  a  recess  of  fifteen  min- 
utes, but  none  left  their  seats  excepting  some  of  the 
mothers  who  had  to  care  for  their  little  children.  The 
afternoon  meeting  commenced  by  singing  one  of  their 
own  hymns,  composed  by  W.  W.  Phelps,  called, 
"Adam-ondi-ahman." 

Joseph  Smith  then  arose  and  introduced  to  the 
people  the  other  presidents  of  the  church  who  were 
there,  and  told  them  these  men  were  equal  with  him 
as  presidents  of  the  church.  The  church  said  "Yes" 
to  this,  and  after  a  few  more  remarks  and  some  in- 
struction, the  choir  sang  again,  and  Jos- 
eph Smith  prayed,  asking  blessings  on 
the  house,  and  giving  it  to  the  Lord. 
In  that  long  prayer,  the  Saints  in  far-away  Missouri 
were  prayed  for  with  love  and  tenderness.  When 
the  "Amen"  was  reached,  the  choir  sang  a  hymn  that 
we  all  love  to  hear  at  conference  time,—  "The  Spirit 
of  God  like  a  fire  is  burning."  It  must  have  sounded 
grand  indeed,  echoing  through  the  new  Temple,  for 
we  have  heard  it  when  the  Saints  of  our  own  time  sang 


208  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1836 

it,  and  it  seemed  to  lift  us  almost  off  our  feet  with  the 
power  of  God's  Spirit. 

The  bread  and  wine  were  blessed  by  the  boyish 
president  of  the  High  Priests'  Quorum,  Don  Carlos 
Smith,  and  passed  by  others  to  the  people.  Oliver 
Cowdery  testified  to  the  truth  of  the  Book  of  Mormon 
—you  will  not  forget  that  was  his  first  and  best  mission 
to  all  the  world.  D.  C.  Smith,  and  President  F.  G. 
Williams  spoke,  and  President  Rigdon  then  made  a 
short  prayer,  which  ended  with  the  wonderful  scene 
so  often  told  to  us,  how  the  people  with  one  accord 
shouted  all  together,  "Hosanna,  hosanna,  hosanna  to 
God  and  the  Lamb.  Amen,  amen,  and  amen."  Brig- 
ham  Young  spoke  in  tongues,  D.  W.  Patten  inter- 
preted, and  spoke  in  tongues  himself.  Hyrum  Smith 
spoke  for  the  building  committee.  Then  Joseph 
Smith  blessed  the  congregation,  and  a 
"little  past  four"  the  people  went  home. 
That  was  a  long  service.  They  had  been  there  for 
eight  hours,  and  the  history  tells  us,  had  been  quiet  and 
interested ;  of  course  they  fasted. 

Early  in  the  morning  a  man  stood  at  each  door  to 
take  anything  the  people  wanted  to  give  to  pay  off 
what  debt  there  was  on  the  Temple,  and  when  they 
counted  what  had  been  given  that  day,  there  was  the 
sum  of  nine  hundred  and  sixty-three  dollars.  The 
next  week  there  were  meetings  held  in  the  Temple. 
Among  other  things,  they  had  feet-washing  meetings, 
like  Jesus  and  his  disciples  had. 


1836]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  209 


CHAPTER  47. 

Interesting  Things  Happen  in  Kirtland. 

THE  NEXT  SUNDAY  while  Joseph  Smith  and  Oliver 
Cowdery  were  in  prayer  in  one  of  the  high  pulpits  of 
the  Temple,  the  Lord  appeared  to  them  in  vision.  He 
seemed  to  be  standing  on  a  pavement  of  gold,  the  color 
of  amber.  He  looked  beautiful  and  wonderfully 
bright,  and  they  heard  his  voice,  soft,  full,  and  mighty, 
like  rushin-g  waters,  as  he  told  them  he  accepted  the 
house,  and  he  promised  that  thousands 
would  rejoice  because  of  the  things  done  f^™™86  °f 
in  the  house,  and  "the  fame  of  this 
house  shall  spread  to  foreign  lands."  This  has  been 
true,  and  many  other  things  have  happened  that  were 
foretold  in  that  little  prayer  meeting  of  these  two 
young  men  who  had  been  blessed  six  years  before  by 
the  angel,  John  the  Baptist,  on  the  banks  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna  River. 

After  this,  the  elders  went  to  their  mission  fields. 
The  "wise  men  of  Zion"  represented  by 
Bishop  Partridge,  Isaac  Morley,  John     ^iste0  ™f0nn  to 
Corrill,  and  W.  W.  Phelps,  started  for 
Missouri.    Some  of  the  elders  went  with  them  a  day's 
journey,  then  prayed  for  them,  and  parted  with  them. 
Kirtland  grew  into  quite  a  city  very  soon. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  July,  1836,  we  read  in 
the    Church   History,   that    Joseph    Smith,    Hyrum 


21Q  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 

Smith,    Oliver    Cowdery,    and    Sidney    Rigdon   left 

Utica,  New  York,  on  the  first  passenger  car  on  the 

new  railroad  to  Schenectady.    They  did  not  have  their 

breath  taken  away  in  rapid  flight,  for 

Firstjassen-         Joseph    Smith    says>    «We    were    more 

than  six  hours  traveling  eighty  miles." 
However,  they  reached  Albany  that  same  evening. 
These  men  then  traveled  by  steamer,  John  Mason  out 
to  the  Erie,  another  boat  on  which  they  traveled  to 
New  York,  from  there  to  Providence  by  steamboat, 
and  on  to  Boston  by  steam  cars.  It  is  interesting  to 
think  of  the  changes  in  the  way  of  travel  since  that 
time,  when  the  church  was  being  built  up  by  these 
earnest  workers. 


Erie  Canal. 

In  the  years  1836  and  1837,  the  spirit  of  specula- 
tion which  was  sweeping  through  the  United  States 

entered  into  the  country  around  Kirt- 
Money  trou-  land  This  is  the  spirit  that  makes  men 

try  to  get  much  when  they  give  little. 
Things  had  happened  in  the  Nation  that  made  this 


]1837  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  211 

feeling  everywhere  worse  than  before.  There  were 
banks  going  into  business  throughout  the  country, 
and  money  seemed  easy  to  get. 

The  Kirtland  people  were  anxious  for,  and  needed 
a  bank  too,  and  made  arrangements  for  one,  but  the 
legislature  of  Ohio  refused  to  let  them  have  the  rights 
necessary  to  become  a  bank,  so  they  gave  up  the  bank 
plan  and  formed  a  company  or  society  to  make  better 
their  own  interests.  They  gave  it  the  name  of  "Kirt- 
land Safety  Society  Anti-Banking  Company."  This 
was  not  a  church  affair,  but  many  of  the  men  of  the 
church  were  in  it. 

There  suddenly  came  a  change  called  a  panic.  All 
over  the  country  money  was  hard  to  get  now,  and 
many  men  turned  every  thought  to  getting  it.  The 
paper  notes  of  the  society,  like  many  others  in  those 
days,  were  no  longer  worth  what  they  had  been,  for 
gold  and  silver  had  grown  to  be  worth  more  than 
before. 

Joseph  Smith  had  withdrawn  from  the  society  early 
in  the  year,  and  when  he  found  that  some  men  were 
getting  money  for  the  worthless  notes,  he  printed  a 
notice  in  the  August,  1837,  number  of  the  Messenger 
and  Advocate,  warning  people  not  to  pay  anything 
for  these  notes.  Of  course,  Saints  lost  money;  they 
copied  the  way  of  the  world,  and  they  also  suffered 
persecutions  from  the  world  beside  their  money  loss. 
The  country  was  full  of  such  losers  that  year.  But  we 
turn  to  the  spiritual  things  in  Kirtland. 


212  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 


CHAPTER  48. 

The  Meetings  in  the  Temple. 

THAT  WINTER  the  Temple  was  full  of  listeners  dur- 
ing the  services,  and  most  of  them  were  members  of 
the  church.  They  met  there  to  sing  in  the  evenings, 
Elders  Luman  Carter  and  Jonathan  Crosby,  jr.,  hav- 
ing charge  and  instructing  them  in  the  principles  of 
vocal  music.  In  the  attic  rooms,  other  meetings  were 
being  held.  On  Monday  evening,  in  the  west  room  of 
the  attic,  the  high  priests  met,  and  Tuesday  evening, 
the  seventies;  on  Wednesday,  the  elders;  on  Thursday, 
a  general  prayer  meeting  in  the  rooms  downstairs, 
usually  conducted  by  Father  Smith. 

The  Twelve,  the  high  councils,  and  other  quorums 
held  their  meetings  once  a  week,  but  during  the  day 
the  Kirtland  High  School  was  taught 

in  the  attic  rooms  by  H-  M.  Hawkes, 
professor  of  Greek  and  Latin,  for  high 
schools  were  not  supported  by  the  State  as  they  are 
now.  This  school  numbered  near  to  one  hundred  and 
forty  students,  divided  into  three  departments, — one 
was  for  the  classes  where  only  the  languages  were 
taught,  and  two,  the  English,  where  mathematics, 
common  arithmetic,  geography,  English,  grammar, 
writing,  and  reading  were  taught;  and  three,  the  juve- 
nile department.  There  were  assistants  in  these  last 
two  departments. 


1837]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

All  the  winter  the  news  from  Missouri  was  quite 
encouraging  to  the  Saints  in  Ohio.  They  knew  that 
the  friendly  hand  of  Clay  County  was  helping  the 
Saints  to  move  onto  lands  in  the  County  of  Caldwell, 
.and  from  the  other  counties  the  Saints 
were   going   up   to   Caldwell   and   the     %£%£ 
counties  near  to  it.    Many  Saints  were 
in  Van  Buren  County.    That  county  does  not  appear 
on  your  map  now,  for  its  name  was  changed  in  1849 
to  Cass  County.     The  church  paper  seemed  to  be  a 
restless  possession,  for  we  find  it  on  the  first  day  of 
February,  1837,  passing  into  the  hands 
of  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon,       edftoS.  *" 
two   of   the   Presidency.      They   made 
Warren  Cowdery  their  agent  in  the  printing  office, 
book  bindery,  and  editor  of  the  Messenger  and  Advo- 
cate.    The  old  firm  of  Oliver  Cowdery  &  Company 
was  now,  by  agreement  of  all,  a  thing  of  the  past. 

The  church  was  growing  in  officers,  for  in  the  three 
months  ending  March  3,  1837,  the  clerk,  T.  Burdick, 
had  recorded  licenses  in  Kirtland  for  thirty-two  elders, 
seven  priests,  three  teachers,  and  two  deacons.  Some 
of  the  church  leaders  tried  in  every  way  to  increase  the 
love  and  kindness  of  the  brethren  for  each  other.  They 
called  a  solemn  meeting  for  April  6,  the  seventh  birth- 
day of  the  church. 

It  came  on  Thursday,  and  they  met  in  the  Temple 
and  did  many  things  toward  getting  the  ministry  in 
better  order. 


Astern 

s.  ® 


i11«U 


YOUN«  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1887 

The  question  of  the  debts  of  the  church  was  dis- 
cussed at  this  meeting.  Sidney  Rigdon  covers  these 
debts  in  three  items:  first,  six  thousand 
.  dollars  spent  because  of  the  Saints 
being  driven  by  a  mob  from  their  homes  in  Jackson 
County,  Missouri ;  the  second  was  about  thirteen  thou- 
sand dollars  yet  unpaid  on  the  building  of  the  Lord's 
House;  and  the  third  was  money  spent  for  land  pur- 
chased to  give  the  Saints  a  place  of  safety  and  rest 
that  they  might  lawfully  call  their  own.  The  money 
for  these  things  was  charged  to  the  Presidency  and 
other  leading  men  of  the  church. 


1837J  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  217 


CHAPTER  49. 

Getting  Ready  for  the  First  Foreign  Mission. 

DURING  the  summer  of  1837,  there  was  to  be  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Quorum  of  Twelve,  and  about  the  first  of 
June  the  Lord  made  it  plain  that  Heber  C.  Kimball 
was  to  go  on  a  mission  to  England.  The  gospel  had 
been  preached  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  but  had  never  been  told  in  any  foreign 
land.  The  President  laid  hands  on  Heber  C.  Kimball 
and  blessed  him  to  preside  over  a  mission  to  England. 

Orson  Hyde  had  been  in  that  spirit  of  speculating 
in  Kirtland  and  was  discontented  and  faultfinding. 
He  came  into  this  meeting  and  listened 
to  the  prayers  and  all  the  words  that 
were  said,  and  at  once  he  grew  ashamed 
and  sorry  of  the  things  he  had  thought  and  done.  He 
confessed  his  fault,  asked  to  be  forgiven,  and  wanted 
to  go  with  Heber  C.  Kimball  on  the  mission.  So  he 
was  blessed  too,  and  prepared  to  go.  Although  there 
had  been  so  much  trouble  for  the  church,  it  had  not 
stopped  its  growth,  for  we  find  there  were  licenses 
given  to  thirty-five  elders,  three  priests,  two  teachers, 
and  two  deacons  in  the  three  months  ending  June 
3,  1837. 

John  E.  Page  had  been  preaching  in  upper  Canada 
for  thirteen  months,  and  at  a  conference  held  June 
10,  1837,  there  were  in  Canada  three  hundred  and 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 

five  members,  all  his  "children  in  the  gospel."  Early 
in  June,  Doctor  Willard  Richards,  a  cousin  of  Brig- 
ham  Young,  came  to  Kirtland,  and  was  by  his  own  re- 
quest added  to  the  number  going  as  missionaries  to 
England.  June  13,  1837,  the  missionaries  started. 
There  were  Elders  Heber  C.  Kimball,  Orson  Hyde, 
Joseph  Fielding,  and  Willard  Richards.  Now  we  will 
have  Kirtland,  Missouri,  and  Europe  for  the  three 
principal  places  of  interest  in  our  history,  for  these 
men  did  a  wonderful  work  in  England,  and  suffered 
many  things  that  it  might  be  done.  We  will  give 
them  time  to  go  that  long  journey  while  we  tell  of 
things  in  Kirtland. 

It  was  on  July  23,  1837,  that  Thomas  B.  Marsh 

received  through  Joseph  Smith  the  revelation  to  the 

Twelve.    Thomas  B.  Marsh  was  at  this  time  president 

of  the   Quorum  of  Twelve  Apostles, 

to  EngST      and  this  day  is  one  to  be  remembered 
in  history,  for  our  elders  preached  their 

first  foreign  sermons  on  this  day  in  England.  And 
connected  with  that  date  are  the  names  of  those  who 
preached,  that  is,  Heber  C.  Kimball  and  Orson  Hyde. 

A  few  days  later,  July  27,  1837,  Joseph  Smith  and 
Sidney  Rigdon  of  the  Presidency,  and  T.  B.  Marsh, 
president  of  the  Twelve,  started  on  a  mission  to 
Canada,  but  were  stopped  on  the  way  by  lawsuits 
that  were  merely  a  form  of  persecution.  But  the 
elders  went  and  preached  and  returned  the  last  of 


1837]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  219 

August.  They  would  probably  read  the  August  num- 
ber of  the  Messenger  and  Advocate  while  gone.  In  it 
was  the  notice  of  a  new  paper  that  Joseph  Smith  was 
going  to  edit,  called  the  Elders'  Journal. 

The  elders  were  home  but  a  little  while  until  con- 
ference began,  the  first  meeting  being  at  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  on  Sunday,  October  3,  1837.  There 
had  been  so  many  complaining  and  faultfinding  that 
the  first  thing  of  importance  seemed  to  be  to  find  out 
if  the  people  still  wanted  the  same  men  to  lead  them, 
so  Sidney  Rigdon  asked  the  people  if  they  still  looked 
upon  and  would  uphold  Joseph  Smith  as  their  Presi- 
dent, and  the  people  voted  all  together,  "Yes."  Then 
their  President  said  that  Sidney  Rigdon  and  Fred- 
erick G.  Williams  were  his  counselors,  and  they  would 
be  the  three  First  Presidents  of  the  church  if  the  peo- 
ple wanted  it  that  way.  They  agreed  to  all  this  except 
to  the  name  of  F.  G.  Williams.  He  had  been  among 
the  ones  who  had  turned  against  the  church  leaders 
in  the  spring. 

President  Smith  then  introduced  Oliver  Cowdery, 
Joseph  Smith,  senior,  and  Hyrum  Smith  and  John 
Smith  for  assistant  counselors.  They 
were  to  be  called  with  the  first  three, 
heads  of  the  church,  meaning  leaders, 
for  Christ  is  the  only  head  of  the-  church.  This  the 
people  agreed  to.  Newel  K.  Whitney  was  bishop, 
with  Reynolds  Cahoon  and  Vinson  Knight  counselors. 
When  they  came  to  the  Twelve  Apostles,  they  voted 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 

for  Thomas  B.  Marsh,  David  W.  Patten,  Brigharn 
Young,  Heber  C.  Kimball,  Orson  Hyde,  Parley  P. 
Pratt,  William  Smith,  and  William  E.  McLellin. 
These  were  to  stay  in  their  places  as  apostles,  but  Luke 
Johnson,  Lyman  Johnson,  and  John  F.  Boynton  were 
not  to  stay  unless  they  could  make  satisfaction.  Elder 
Boynton  was  there,  and  blamed  the  bank  trouble  for 
his  bad  conduct. 

There  were  changes  made  in  the  High  Council,  for 
John  Johnson,  Joseph  Coe,  Joseph  Kingsbury,  and 
Martin  Harris  and  John  P.  Green  were  not  sustained. 
Thomas  Grover  had  gone  to  the  West,  and  John 
Smith  wras  now  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  church,  and 
Orson  Johnson  had  been  put  out  of  the  church.  This 
took  seven  men  out  of  the  High  Council  at  Kirtland. 
So  new  ones  were  chosen  to  complete  it.  Then  the 
names  of  the  council  were,  1,  John  P.  Green; 
2,  Asael  Smith;  3,  Samuel  H.  Smith;  4,  Mayhew 
Hillman;  5,  William  Marks;  6,  Noah  Packard;  7, 
Oliver  Granger;  8,  David  Dort;  9,  Jared  Carter;  10, 
Phineas  Richards;  11,  Henry  G.  Sherwood:  12,  Har- 
low  Redfield. 

On  the  tenth  day  of  September,  1837,  the  whole 
church  of  Kirtland  met,  and  it  was  voted  to  let  Luke 
Johnson,  Lyman  Johnson,  and  John  F.  Boynton  stay 
in  the  Apostles'  Quorum,  for  they  had  confessed  their 
faults  and  asked  to  be  forgiven.  Then  the  conference 
made  one  member  of  the  High  Council  an  agent  for 
N.  K.  Whitney,  so  Whitney  could  travel  and  preach. 


1837]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

This  agent  was  William  Marks,  a  man  who  become  a 
strong  link  in  church  history. 

Oliver  Cowdery  was  not  at  this  conference.     He 
had  gone  to  Missouri;  and  as  he  was  the  church  re- 
corder they  had  to  get  a  new  recorder. 
George  W.  Robinson  had  been  doing 
much  of  the  clerk's  work  in  conferences  and  councils, 
and  he  was  at  this  very  conference  made  church  re- 
corder by  vote  of  the  people.    The  people  wanted  Jos- 
eph Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  to  locate  other  places 
for  the  Saints  to  gather  to.     These  gathering  places 
were  called  stakes  of  Zion. 

When  a  call  was  made  for  those  who  could  volun- 
teer to  go  preach,  one  hundred  and  nine  men  answered. 
This  party  of  men  was  divided  into  eight  companies 
of  thirteen  and  fourteen  each,  and  sent  out  east  and 
southeast,  south  and  southwest,  west  and  northwest, 
north  and  northeast,  and  thus  were  they  expected  to 
go  through  the  land. 

The  High  Council  had  trouble  keeping  its  quorum 
full.  Jared  Carter  went  to  Missouri,  so  Elder  Lyman 
Sherman  took  his  place  the  first  day  of  October,  and 
on  the  second  Samuel  H.  Smith  was  appointed  presi- 
dent of  the  council. 

While  the  elders  traveled,  sickness  and  death  some- 
times came  to  their  loved  ones  at  home.  Distance 
seemed  greater  then,  for  there  was  not  the  rapid  way 
of  travel  that  we  have  now,  and  no  telegraph  or  tele- 
phone between  even  large  cities.  So  when  Hyrum 


222  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1837 

Smith's  wife  died  in  Kirtland,  the  thirteenth  day  of 
October,  1837,  it  would  be  a  long  time  before  he  heard 
it  in  his  place  of  travel  in  Missouri. 
This  woman  was  a  good  worker  in  the 
church,  and  was  loved  by  all  who  knew 
her  pleasant,  thrifty,  tidy  ways,  and  gentle,  kindly 
heart.  She  left  six  little  children,  the  youngest  a  baby, 
eight  days  old. 

It  was  about  the  winter  or  fall  of  1837  that  Parley 

P.  Pratt  put  out  a  little  book  of  about  one  hundred 

and  sixteen  pages.    This  was  called  The 

Waging.  Voice   of  Warning.      It  became  very 

popular,  and  was  read  by  thousands; 

many  came  to  learn  about  the  church  by  reading  it. 

It  is  still  published  by  the  church.     It  was  in  this 

month  of  October,  1837,  when  the  High  Council  set 

to  work  again  to  get  the  people  to  doing  better. 

Some  of  them  had  been  out  with  the  people  of  the 
world  in  a  dance,  and  there  were  other  evils  connected 

with  it.  Thirty-one  in  all  were 
in  trouble  over  this  dance,  and 
eleven  of  them  confessed  and 
were  sorry.  The  council  re- 
solved to  have  all  unruly  chil- 
dren reported  to  their  parents, 
Home  of  Hyrum  Smith  in  and  if  the  parents  did  not  take 

Kirtland.  \. 

suitable  notice,  they  would  be 
reported  to  the  church  authority. 

The  High  Council  passed  a  vote  that  no  liquor 


183T]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  223 

should  be  brought  into  the  place  to  be  sold.    They  did 
not  want  it  used  in  any  way.     So  they  began  a  tem- 
perance movement   (temperance  move- 
ments were  new  things  then) ,  as  well  as 
one  against  dancing  and  bad  children. 
While  they  are  working  away  at  these  things,  we  will 
go  to  Missouri. 


224  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 


CHAPTER  50. 

In  Caldwell  County,  Missouri. 

AH,,  THAT  was  a  long  way  in  those  days,  and  we 
would  find  it  beset  with  many  hard  things  if  we  went 
as  they  did,  even  now,  with  so  many  towns  between. 
Joseph  Smith  and  a  number  of  leading  men  reached 
Missouri  late  in  October,  1837.  Missouri  was  beau- 
tiful in  October.  Her  prairies  looked  like  seas  of 
brown  grass  that  rose  and  fell  under  the  fresh  breeze 
like  waves.  The  hazelnuts  were  hanging  in  heavy 
clusters  on  the  silver-gray  branches  where  were  softly- 
tinted  leaves  just  ready  to  fall.  These  hazel  woods 
grew  in  companies,  and  looked  from  a  distance  like 
forests  of  little  trees.  There  were  prairie  chickens, 
beautiful,  brown,  speckled  things,  and  quails  in  happy 
thousands,  scuttling  through  those  grasses,  and  early 
in  the  morning  one  heard  often  a  soft  drumming  sound 
off  over  the  hills,  the  sound  a  huntsman  liked,  for  that 
meant  prairie  hens  or  pheasants. 

If  we  traveled  as  these  church  leaders  did  on  this 
trip,  we  would  hear  for  miles  the  swish,  swish  of  the 
long  grasses  about  us,  brushing  our  feet 

as    we    rode>    and    not    unusually    the 
grasses  would  reach  the  height  of  eight 
or   ten   feet,   but  bending  together,   they   appeared 
shorter.      Wild    animals    would    bound    away    from 
us,    and   flocks    of    wild   birds    rise    close    at    hand. 


1837]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

As  we  rode  down  toward  the  streams,  we  would  pass 
cool,  clear  springs  of  water,  and  near  the  streams  come 
into  timber  gay  as  a  garden,  with  maple  and  elm  and 
oak  leaves  touched  by  gentle  frosts,  and  higher  up, 
nuts  of  hickory  and  walnut  would  loosen  to  the  wind 
and  rattle  to  the  ground.  Purple  and  spicy,  the  wild 
grapes  grew  near,  and  the  wild  crabs  and  luscious 
plums. 


Shoal  Creek;  where  Saints  crossed  shown  in  white  spot  above  bridge. 

But  they  hurried  on,  these  busy  men,  letting  the 
horses  stand  for  a  few  moments  and  drink  of  the  cool 
waters  of  the  creek  or  small  river,  then  splash,  splash, 
until  their  hoofs  struck  the  flat,  yellow  rocks,  and 
chalky  gravel  way  that  led  from  "the  ford"  to  the 
faintly  marked  trail.  Sometimes  they  passed  or  paused 
to  chat  with  small  companies  in  wagons  going  up  to 


226  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 

Caldwell  or  Far  West.  It  seemed  a  blessed  thing  to 
think  that  this  broad,  beautiful,  sun-kissed  land  was 
to  be  a  home  for  them,  a  home  of  peace. 

Sometimes  they  stopped  at  the  houses,  and  from  a 
gourd  dipper  would  drink  of  the  clear,  cool  water. 
They  noticed  the  spinning  wheel  and  heavy  looms, 
and  busy  womenfolk  making  cloth  and  clothing,  but 
no  sewing  machines  were  there,  and  the  men  and 
boys  building  barns  and  clearing  land  and  gathering 
stones  for  chimneys.  They  heard  bitter  stories,  too, 
and  saw  sad  sights. 

One  thing  that  made  the  Saints  uneasy  was  the 

change  in  the  governor.     At  the  election  held  in  the 

fall  of  1836,  Lilburn  W.  Boggs,  the 

A^new  gov-        open  enemy  and  declared  persecutor  of 

the  Saints,  had  been  elected  governor 

of  Missouri,  and  they  could  not  hope  for  any  justice 

from  him.     But  they  thought  the  new  protection  of 

their  own  county  officers,  and  a  representative  in  the 

state  meetings  would  make  up  for  some  of  this  man's 

power  against  them. 

There  were  several  small  towns  of  Saints  in  upper 
Missouri.  They  had  laid  out  a  town  called  Adam- 
ondi-ahman,  in  Daviess  County,  on  the 

bluffs  and  hills  on  the  east  side  of  Grand 

River.  Gallatin  was  only  three  miles 
from  it,  and  many  of  the  Saints  settled  there.  Down 
in  Carroll  County  was  a  little  town  called  De  Witt. 
It  wras  near  the  banks  of  the  Missouri,  and  was  to  be 


1837J  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

a  steamboat  landing,  a  place  to  land  with  people  and 
goods  for  Caldwell  County.  George  M.  Hinkle  and 
John  Murdock  bought  the  town  property  for  the 
church  (they  were  trustees  for  the  church) ,  and  quite 
a  number  settled  there  and  prepared  to  go  into  busi- 
ness. 

In  April,  1837,  the  High  Council  of  Missouri  had 
appointed  a  committee  to  see  about  building  a  house 
of  the  Lord  in  Far  West,  and  the  names 
of  that  committee  are  familiar  to  you  f  templeWanted 
by  this  time.  The  committee  on  selling 
lots  were  W.  W.  Phelps,  John  Whitmer,  Edward 
Partridge,  Isaac  Morley,  and  John  Corrill.  The 
temple  committee  was  Jacob  Whitmer,  Elisha  H. 
Groves,  and  George  M.  Hinkle.  The  Lord  had  not 
told  them  to  build  a  temple,  but  they  went  to  work 
at  it.  On  July  3,  they  had  a  great  gathering  of  peo- 
ple. About  fifteen  hundred  gathered  about  the  tem- 
ple lot.  After  prayer  and  song,  they  dug  a  cellar 
one  hundred  and  ten  feet  long  and  eighty  broad.  All 
the  dirt  was  carried  out  with  wheelbarrows.  The  peo- 
ple were  very  anxious  to  have  a  place  to  worship  God, 
something  like  the  Temple  in  Kirtland. 

The  spring  was  backward  and  cold,  but  the  Saints 
were  busy  and  happy.  Every  Sunday  there  were 
baptisms,  sometimes  in  the  waters  of  beautiful  Shoal 
Creek,  where  were  points  of  pebbly  shore  and  shelves 
of  flat,  yellow  stone,  reaching  down  into  the  flowing 
water.  They  baptized  sometimes  in  Goose  Creek,  also. 


228 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


The  school  section  of  land,  allowed  by  the  Govern- 
ment, was  sold,  and  that  gave  them  a  school  fund  of 
five   thousand   and    seventy    dollars    to   begin   with. 
There  were  about  one  hundred 
buildings  in  the  town,  eight  of 
them  stores,  and  one  hotel  or 
tavern,  and  many  other  houses 
being  built.    A  post  office  was 
granted  by  the   Government, 
called  "Far  West." 

The  state  militia  had  one 
regiment  of  men  in  that  part 
of  the  State,  called  the  Cald- 
well  Regiment.  They  were 
nearly  all  Saints  or  "Mor- 
mons." Governor  Boggs  gave 

them  commission  or  authority,  and  Lyman  Wight  was 
elected  colonel  by  vote  of  the  regiment,  and  was  given 
power  to  act  under  orders  from  the  state  authorities. 
Colonel  Wight  was  a  fearless,  daring  man,  strong 
and  dauntless.  He  had  a  company  of  men  noted  for 
bravery,  courage,  and  physical  strength. 
They  were  call  the  "Diahman  Boys," 
and  were  afraid  of  just  one  thing,— 
that  was,  doing  wrong.  They  were  ordered  by  Gen- 
eral Parks  to  stop  the  mob's  action  in  Daviess  County, 
for  they  were  trying  to  drive  the  Saints  out  of  that 
county,  even  when  the  Saints  had  paid  for  their  land 
and  had  written  permission  from  two  thirds  of  the 


Site  of  Far  West  Temple 
as  it  looked  in  1909.  House 
of  John  Whitmer  in  distance. 


Diahman 
Boys. 


1837]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  229 

people  to  live  there.  The  little  troubles  of  the  Saints 
and  the  mobs  increased  every  month.  The  Saints  in 
Far  West  agreed  to  go  ahead  and  build  the  Lord's 
House  as  they  should  have  means  given  them.  This 
was  the  way  things  were  when  the  elders  from  Kirt- 
land  came  to  visit  Caldwell  County. 

On  November  6,  1837,  (the  fifth  birthday  of  his 
little  son  Joseph) ,  the  Prophet  and  his  counselors  and 
others  met  with  the  high  council  of  Far 
West.  They  concluded  that  there  was 
room  in  the  new  county  for  the  people  to  keep  gather- 
ing, but  they  would  not  go  on  building  the  house  of 
the  Lord  until  the  Lord  should  tell  them  to  do  so. 
Maybe  the  Missouri  Saints  were  in  too  much  of  a 
hurry  to  build  a  temple.  To-day  there  is  but  one 
temple  standing,  built  by  the  command  of  God;  that 
is  the  Temple  at  Kirtland.  There  is  not  now  a  sign 
of  the  temple  in  Missouri  except  the  cellar  dug  in  Far 
West  that  July  day,  and  that  is  fast  disappearing,  and 
we  look  in  vain  for  the  hundreds  of  houses  that  shel- 
tered a  hopeful  but  persecuted  people. 

We  will  try  to  think  of  the  county  as  it  then  ap- 
peared,— men  and  women  busy  in  the  fields  and  gar- 
dens, carpenters  working  at  new  houses, 
masons  putting  up  wide,  deep  chimneys, 
or  making  deep,  old-fashioned  brick 
ovens ;  blacksmiths  and  wood-turners  busy,  and  looms 
and  spinning  wheels  deftly  wrorked  in  the  hands  of 
careful  women  and  merry-hearted  girls,  a  western 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 

breeze  sweeping  the  beautiful  hills,  and  the  sun  shin- 
ing with  the  soft,  hazy  light  of  Indian  summer's  latest 
glory  over  everything. 

It  was  amid  such  scenes  that  the  church  met  on  the 
seventh  day  of  November,  and  after  the  manner  of 
that  meeting  in  Kirtland,  voted  to  sustain  Joseph 
Smith  and  his  counselors.  Again  Frederick  G.  Wil- 
liams was  objected  to;  although  presented  by  Joseph 
Smith,  the  people  would  not  have  him.  Although  Ed- 
ward Partridge  and  David  Whitmer 

sP°ke  in  his  favor>  theY  elected  Hyrum 
Smith  in  his  place,  when  Sidney  Bigdon 
had  nominated  him.  This  was  the  first  change  in  the 
quorum  of  three  presidents.  The  meeting  continued, 
and  elected  David  Whitmer  president  of  the  church  in 
Missouri.  Bishop  Partridge  was  sustained  as  bishop, 
and  many  others  were  given  places  of  trust  or  sus- 
tained there.  Among  them,  Isaac  Morley  was  chosen 
patriarch  of  that  branch  of  the  church. 

The  people  listened  to  a  short  talk  from  Sidney 

Rigdon,  then  unanimously  voted  not  to  help  stores 

or  shops  if  they  sold  liquors,  tea,  coffee, 

No  liquor,  tea,  ^  J 

coffee,  or  to-  or  tobacco.  So  you  see  the  Saints  were 
a  peculiar  people,  for  nearly  all  people 
used  such  things  in  those  days,  and  it  was  strange  to 
find  a  town  in  Missouri  where  these  things  were  not 
sold.  We  are  glad  they  made  a  history  as  a  temper- 
ance people. 


1837]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  231 

You  remember  the  Saints  employed  some  lawyers 
in  1834,  over  in  Clay  County,  to  try  to  get  their 
Jackson  County  lands  for  them.  Of 

J  Edward    Par- 

course  these  men  had  to  be  paid,  and     tridge  and  the 
Edward  Partridge  paid  about  nine  hun- 
dred dollars  to  them  and  for  other  expenses.    He  now 
asked  to  get  the  money  back  out  of  church  property, 
and  the  church  agreed  to  let  him  do  so. 


232  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 


CHAPTER  51. 

The  Foreign  Missionaries. 

WHILE  we  are  watching  these  busy  scenes  in  Mis- 
souri, there  are  sad  things  happening  in  Kirtland. 
Warren  Parrish  (you  remember  the 
voung  and  beloved  scribe  of  Joseph 
Smith) ,  John  Boynton,  and  Luke 
Johnson  (two  of  the  apostles),  and  Joseph  Coe,  had 
joined  with  others  in  an  effort  to  ruin  the  church. 
Some  time  in  December,  1837,  these  people  declared 
that  they  were  the  church  of  Christ,  and  that  Joseph 
Smith  and  those  who  followed  him  were  wicked  and 
wrong.  Those  were  days  of  fear  and  trouble  in  Kirt- 
land. Even  in  the  Temple,  men  tried  to  fight  their 
brethren,  and  the  mob  joined  with  these  apostates  and 
drove  some  Saints  from  the  city,  one  of  these  being 
Brigham  Young,  of  the  Quorum  of  Twelve. 

The  Elders'  Journal  for  November  2,  1837,  was  the 
last  paper  printed  in  Kirtland.     After  some  county 
court  trouble,  the  whole  printing  estab- 
fi£ntbugrned~        lishment   was   burned   to   the   ground. 
This  was  the  way  things  were  going  at 
Kirtland  when  Christmas  came  to  the  world:  Christ- 
mas, the  day  of  peace  and  good  will,  and  God's  people 
in  trouble  with  themselves  and  the  world!     We  feel 
that  everybody  could  not  be  in  the  wrong;  somebody 
must  have  been  in  the  right.    We  will  leave  them  now, 


1837] 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


233 


both  Missouri  and  Ohio,  and  see  what  became  of  the 
elders  blessed  and  sent  to  that  new  mission  in  a  for- 
eign land. 

It  was  June,  1837,  when  they  left  the  town  of  Kirt- 
land.  They  looked  back  to  the  Temple  and  thought  of 
the  times  of  joy  they  had  felt  in  its  quiet 
rooms,  and  they  thought  of  the  dear 
ones  they  might  never  see  again.  But 
they  wanted  Jesus  to  come  to  earth  again  and  find  a 
good  and  happy  people  waiting  for  him.  The  people 
must  learn  how  to  be  good,  and  they  were  going  to  tell 


English 
Mission. 


They  looked  back  to  the  Temple  and  thought  of  the  joy  they  had 
felt  in  its  quiet  rooms. 

them  of  the  angel's  visit,  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  and 
revelations,  and  the  church  that  was  just  like  the  old 
one  in  Jerusalem,  when  Jesus  was  there. 


234  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1837 

Would  they  tell  them  about  the  Inspired  Transla- 
tion? Yes;  but  they  could  not  tell  much  about  it,  for 
it  was  not  yet  ready  to  give  to  the  world.  It  was  just 
written  and  waiting  for  the  church  to  be  ready  to 
print  and  bind  it,  and  some  day  you  will  see  that  the 
Lord  was  wise  indeed  to  thus  keep  this  wonderful  book 
hidden  for  a  season. 

From  Fairport,  on  Lake  Erie,  about  twelve  miles 
from  Kirtland,  the  missionaries  traveled  by  steamboat 
to  Buffalo,  New  York.  This  was  very  pleasant,  but 
when  they  arrived  at  Buffalo,  they  were  disappointed. 
Some  one  had  promised  to  have  money  waiting  for 
them  at  that  city,  but  there  was  none,  and  they  had 
but  little  of  their  own,  and  a  long  journey  before  them. 
They  trusted  to  the  Lord,  and  proceeded  on  their 
way  so  far  as  Albany,  New  York.  Here 
™rk?y  they  got  some  money,  and  were  in  New 
York  by  the  twenty-second  day  of  June. 
The  boat  was  ready  to  go,  and  went  without  them, 
for  they  had  not  money  to  buy  tickets  and  food  for 
the  journey,  and  it  was  not  until  the  first  day  of  July, 
1837,  that  they  left  New  York  on  the  ship  Garrick. 
On  the  way  across  the  Atlantic,  these  elders  preached 
and  tried  to  do  good  to  their  fellow  men. 

Not  until  the  eighteenth  day  of  July  did  they  land 
in  the  great  city  of  Liverpool.  Strangers,  and  pen- 
niless, they  started  the  gospel  work  in  the  Old  Coun- 
try. There  were  seven  elders  in  this  good  work,  and 
they  suffered  much  for  want  of  things  to  eat  and 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  235 

places  to  stay,  but  on  July  23,  1837,  they  preached 
their  first  sermon  on  foreign  soil,  and  on  Christmas 
Day  they  had  the  first  conference  of  the 
church  in  that  country,  with  three  hun- 
dred  Saints  present,  all  but  three  hav- 
ing been  baptized  but  a  short  time  before.    One  hun- 
dred babes  were  blessed  at  the  conference. 

Sometimes  they  baptized  in  the  sea,  sometimes  at 
other  places,  but  they  were  kept  busy,  preaching  and 
teaching.  Once  after  preaching  five  sermons  on  the 
principles  of  the  gospel,  Elders  Kimball  and  Hyde 
baptized  one  hundred  and  thirty  persons.  How 
mighty  are  the  works  and  words  of  God !  The  people 
who  believed  were  full  of  joy.  The  work  of  these  men 
was  a  wonderful  thing.  They  left  hundreds  of  Saints 
in  old  Merrie  England,  tearful  at  part- 
ing with  them,  and  yet  glad  in  Christ.  j^™^  mis" 
They  ordained  elders,  priests,  teachers, 
and  deacons,  about  eighty  in  all,  to  go  on  with  the 
work,  and  then  they  sailed  for  America. 

They  reached  Kirtland  in  the  early  spring,  May  22, 
1838.  They  had  been  gone  from  home  not  quite  a 
year,  but  they  had  baptized  hundreds.  The  British 
people  seemed  to  be  happy  to  hear  and  obey.  This 
was  counted  one  of  the  most  successful  missions  of  the 
church.  Although  we  do  not  always  count  success  by 
the  number  baptized,  the  good  part  of  this  mission  was 
that  it  grew  and  became  permanent. 


236  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 


CHAPTER  52. 

A  Sad  Year  for  the  Church. 

THE  YEAR  1838  was  a  year  full  of  interesting  things 
to  the  church,  and  the  most  of  them  are  sad,  and  all  of 
them  told  carefully  would  fill  a  large  book.  Joseph 
Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  had  returned  to  Kirtland, 
hoping  to  find  the  people  peaceful  and  satisfied,  but 
they  found  just  the  opposite.  We  de- 
pend  on  Joseph  Smith's  History  for  the 
story  of  those  times,  and  that  is  why  we 
follow  him  from  place  to  place.  Then,  too,  he  was  the 
President  of  the  church,  and  so  an  important  man  in 
its  history. 

It  was  useless  to  talk  to  the  people  who  had  turned 

against  the  church.  They  could  not  reason,  and  would 

only  rage  when  spoken  to.     They  acted  so  violently, 

and  threatened  so  many  things,  that  it 

K?rtland.  eaVe  was  no^  sa^e  ^ or  ^ne  lading  men  to  stay. 
They  pretended  that  these  leading  men 
had  broken  the  law,  and  finally  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
clamor  and  rage  of  these  apostates  and  rnobs,  Joseph 
Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon  got  onto  their  horses  and 
rode  away  to  a  place  about  sixty  miles  from  Kirtland 
where  they  rested  for  about  thirty-six  hours  with  some 
Saints  living  there. 

Then  along  came  some  covered  wagons,  and  in  them 
were  the  families  of  these  men.     The  men  had  left 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  237 

Kirtland  on  the  twelfth  day  of  January,  1838,  and  on 
the  sixteenth  day  they  went  on  with  their  families  to 
a  place  called  Dublin,  Indiana,  where  they  rested  for 
nine  days.  The  weather  was  intensely  cold,  and  the 
little  children  suffered  because  of  it ;'  they  were  afraid 
all  the  time  of  the  mob,  for  some  of  them  followed  for 
two  hundred  miles  from  Kirtland,  armed  with  pistols, 
and  other  weapons. 

One  night,  some  of  the  mob  slept  in  the  same  house 
where  Joseph  Smith  was.  He  could  hear  them  in  the 
next  room,  for  there  was  just  a  board 
partition  between  the  rooms.  The  mob 
men  were  swearing  and  telling  what  ter- 
rible things  they  were  going  to  do  "to  the  Mormons." 
Once  they  came  in  and  looked  at  the  men  of  the  church, 
but  thought  they  were  not  the  men  they  wanted  to 
kill,  so  did  nothing  but  swear  and  curse.  At  times  they 
passed  them  in  the  street  and  looked  at  each  other, 
but  the  mobbers  did  not  know  them.  One  of  the  mob- 
bers  was  named  Lyons.  At  last  they  ceased  to  follow 
them. 

Sidney  Rigdon  had  parted  from  Joseph  Smith  at 
Dublin,  Indiana,  and  they  had  traveled  different  ways. 
They  met  in  Terre  Haute,  but  separated  after  a  visit 
and  a  rest.  Joseph  Smith  and  his  wife  and  children 
Julia,  Joseph,  and  Frederick  G.  W.,  crossed  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  at  Grundy,  Illinois.  They  were  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  from  Far  West,  when 
some  of  the  Saints  came  to  meet  them. 


238  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1838 

The  country  did  not  look  so  beautiful  and  pleasing 
as  it  had  a  few  months  before.  Brown  and  bare  were 
the  trees;  dreary  and  forbidding,  the 
Prairies  lay  under  a  cloudy,  stormy  sky. 
Here  and  there  were  patches  of  scrub 
oak  whose  stiff  brown  leaves  clung  in  a  sort  of  stub- 
born pride  to  the  sturdy  branches.  They  made  a 
crisp,  cheerless,  rattling  sound  as  the  sharp  wind  tore 
at  them,  a  sound  harsh  and  dry,  not  at  all  like  the  soft, 
happy  rustle  that  they  gave  to  the  jolly  winds  of  the 
autumn.  There  were  fleeting  glimpses  of  squirrels 
and  rabbits,  but  the  vast,  wild,  new  country  seemed 
lonely  enough,  and  was  still  and  unhospitable  looking. 

But  there  came  signs  of  comfort.  Thin,  blue  lines 
of  smoke  curling  up  from  some  hollow,  or  driving 
before  the  wind  in  little  gray  puffs,  spoke  of  a  place 
where  man  made  comfort  for  his  kind,  and  the  sight 
was  pleasant  to  our  travelers.  Even  the  smell  of  the 
wood  smoke  was  cheering,  and  as  they  journeyed,  the 
houses  grew  more  frequent,  most  of  them  log  houses, 
with  big  stone  chimney  covering,  in  some  cases  one 

third  of  the  end  of  the  building.    Some- 
Paid  for  land.      .. 

times  the  homes  they  passed  were  mere 

cabins,  but  they  held  people  who  hoped  to  have  better 
homes,  for  they  had  paid  for  the  land  according  to 
law,  and  were  ready  to  work  and  willing  to  go  without 
some  things  called  comforts  that  they  might  serve  God 
in  their  own  way.  Glad  indeed  were  these  pilgrims 


1838] 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


239 


to  meet  with  church  brethren,  who  were  kind  and  just 
to  them. 


Where  many  dear  ones  were  left  in   Kirtland. 

The  journey  had  been  long,  and  the  cold  intense, 
and  there  had  been  the  sad  thoughts  of  beautiful  little 
Kirtland  and  the  Temple  and  dear  ones 
left  behind  with  the  false  brethren.  On 
the  fourteenth  day  of  March  they  en- 
tered Far  West,  two  months  on  that  weary  trip.  This 
was  only  the  story  of  one  party  on  their  journey  briefly 
told.  The  story  of  hundreds  would  be  just  like  it, 
only  sadder  and  more  cruel,  for  some  buried  their 
little  children  who  died  on  the  way,  and  some  were 
sick,  and  many  too  poor  to  have  sufficient  clothing. 


240  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 


CHAPTER  53. 

Spring  and  Conference  in  Far  West. 

THE  FAR  WEST  SAINTS  were  having  some  trouble 
among  the  leaders,  and  John  Whitmer,  W.  W. 
Phelps,  and  David  Whitmer  (the  first  two  were  presi- 
dents of  the  church  in  Missouri,  and  the  last  was  one 
of  the  Three  Witnesses)  were  put  out  of  the 
church.  Some  claimed  the  action  was  not  lawful,  but 
as  to  that  we  can  not  here  say.  These  troubles  in  the 
church  could  no  doubt  have  been  kept  out  if  some  of 
the  men  had  not  been  jealous,  and  unkind,  and  ambi- 
tious for  high  places. 

In  a  letter  written  back  to  those  of  the  Presidency 
of  the  church  still  in  Kirtland,  Joseph  Smith  tells  of 
the  peace  and  union  among  the  Saints  in  Far  West. 
He  felt  sorry  to  hear  of  the  burning  of  the  printing 
establishment,  but  he  enjoyed  the  peace  and  comfort 
of  the  little  town  of  Saints.  He  says:  "Heaven 
smiles  upon  the  Saints  in  Caldwell";  and  again,  "We 
have  no  uneasiness  about  the  power  of  our  enemies  in 
this  place  to  do  us  harm."  Secure  and  happy  he  felt 
for  this  people ;  but  he  had  not  heard  of 

the  illness  of  SidneY  Rigdon,  who  was 
still  delayed  on  the  journey,  and  did 
not  get  into  Far  West  until  April  4,  1838,  when  the 
Saints  in  Far  West  met  him  with  gladness,  and  made 
himself  and  family  comfortable  as  possible,  as  they 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  241 

did  all  newcomers.  There  were  many  things  to  do  in 
this  new  country,  and  the  eighth  birthday  anniversary 
of  the  church  was  near,  and  on  April  6,  1838,  the 
church  in  Far  West  met  to  celebrate  by  holding  meet- 
ings in  conference. 

The  doors  opened  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  in 
the  usual  manner.  This  meeting  was  probably  held 
in  the  schoolhouse,  which  served  as  meetinghouse, 
courthouse,  and  schoolroom.  This  was 
a  log  house  afterward  sided  up  and  fn°n^nwest. 
plastered  inside,  which  stood  first  on  the 
school  section  west  of  town,  but  later  was  moved  near 
the  center  of  town.  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rig- 
don  presided  at  this  meeting.  First  they  appointed 
George  Morey  to  be  sexton  and  caretaker  of  the 
house ;  Dimick  Huntington  to  help  him. 

Then  came  church  historian  for  the  church  in  Zion. 
John  Whitmer  was  historian  for  the  whole  church, 
hut  he  was  put  out  of  the  church  and  would  not  give 
up  the  records.  John  Corrill  and  Elias  Higbee  were 
appointed  historians  for  the  church  in  Zion;  Warren 
Parrish,  the  President's  clerk,  was  now  an  apostate, 
so  George  W.  Robinson  was  made  General  Church 
Recorder  for  the  whole  church,  and  also  clerk  for  the 
Presidency.  Ebenezer  Robinson  was  chosen  as  clerk 
and  recorder  for  Far  West  and  the  high  council  there, 
and  Thomas  B.  Marsh  for  president  of  Far  West 
for  that  particular  time,  with  Brigham  Young  and 
David  W.  Patten  to  assist  him  in  his  presidency.  You 


242  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

see  these  three  men  were  all  apostles  of  the  Twelve. 

After  the  sacrament  had  been  taken,  ninety-five 
infants  were  blessed,  and  the  eighth  birthday  celebra- 
tion of  the  church  was  over.  On  the  seventh  and 
eighth  of  April,  1838,  there  was  a  conference  for  busi- 
ness matters,  and  the  quorums  were  arranged  as  they 
best  could  be.  Three  prominent  men  were  finally  put 
out  of  the  church  at  this  conference:  Lyman  E. 
Johnson,  of  the  Twelve;  and  David  Whitmer  and 
Oliver  Cowdery.  There  are  people  who  think  it  was 
not  legal  to  put  these  men  out  as  they  did,  but  that  is 
another  story  for  you  to  read  in  another  place. 

There  was  a  revelation  given  to  Joseph  Smith,  the 

church  Prophet,  on  April  26,  1838,  fixing  the  name  of 

the  church  as  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 

Church  named.         «  T  -^         o    •    ,  i   •      .1  • 

ot  Latter  Day  Saints,  and  in  this  same 
revelation  there  is  a  command  for  them  to  go  on  and 
build  a  place  of  worship,  a  house  of  the  Lord,  and  one 
year  from  that  day  they  were  to  commence  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  the  house. 

The  country  was  beautiful  now,  in  its  springtime 
dress,  and  everything  looked  promising  and  fair.  The 

hills  were  delightful  with  the  many 
newncgounntryhe  shades  of  green  that  came  with  spring; 

the  woodlands  like  a  dream.  Plum  and 
crab  apple  blossoms,  and  sweet  spring  flowers  were 
opening.  The  people  planted  trees  and  plowed  the 
soft,  rich  soil  for  corn  and  other  crops:  Men  went  out 
seeking  locations  for  the  people  who  came  every  day 


1838] 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


243 


to  the  new  country.  Grand  River  looked  fine,  run- 
ning bank  full  of  swiftly  moving  water,  and  Honey 
Creek  and  Shoal  Creek  and  all  the  many  little  water- 
ways looked  beautiful  and  good. 

About  eighteen  miles  from  Far  West,  up  the  river 
through  the  timber,  was  the  home  of  Lyman  Wight, 


at  the  foot  of  a  high  hill.  On  the  hill  was  the  ruin  of 
an  old  altar  of  some  ancient  people.  Joseph  Smith 
named  the  hill  Tower  Hill.  One  half  mile  up  the 
river  was  Wight's  Ferry.  Near  it  was  a  place  for  a 
town  called  Spring  Hill,  but  it  was  changed  when 
Joseph  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  George  W.  Rob- 
inson went  up  there  to  see  it.  They  named  it  Adam- 
ondi-Ahman;  and  people  usually  called  it  Diahman. 


244  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

It  was  from  this  surveying  trip  that  Joseph  Smith 
returned  in  June  to  see  his  family,  for  he  had  a  little 
son  born  on  the  second  day  of  June,  1838,  that  he 
named  Alexander  (probably  in  honor  of  Alexander 
Doniphan). 

The  town  of  Diahman  was  being  built  very  rapidly 
during  these  sunny  days,  and  many  of  the  church 
leaders  were  helping  all  they  could,  and  by  late  fall 
m  there  were  two  hundred  houses 
built,  and  about  forty  families 
living  in  wagons  waiting  for 
houses  to  be  finished.  In  June 
they  had  organized  this  new 
town  and  the  country  round  it 

lnt°  a  Stake>  wlth  a  hi^ 


"Prairie   schooner"    or  mov- 

ing  wagon.  cil  and  presidency,  and  clerks, 

and  all  other  officers.  Of  course,  the  hymn  named 
Adam-ondi-Ahman  was  a  favorite  in  this  new  stake, 
and  its  music  often  cheered  these  waiting  people. 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  245 


CHAPTER  54. 

The  Beginning  of  War  in  Daviess  and  Caldwell  Counties. 

JULY  4,  1838,  there  was  a  great  celebration  in  Far 
West.    Joseph  Smith  was  president  of  the  day;  Hy- 
rum  Smith,  vice  president;  Sidney  Rigdon  made  the 
speech;  Reynolds  Cahoon  was  marshal,  and  George 
Robinson  was  clerk.     There  was  a  long  procession 
that  marched  to  the  temple  lot.     They  had  banners 
and  flags  and  music  and  singing.    The  orator  made  a 
good  speech,  but  he  forgot  that  God  had  warned 
them  not  to  boast,  or  stir  up  strife  and  trouble.     He 
had  heard  that  the  mob  was  gathering  again,  and  he 
told  them  that  the  church  would  stand  their  persecu- 
tion no  more.     They  would  have  their 
rights  and  fight  to  the  last.     Oh,  that     A  mistake. 
is  a  good  speech  in  many  ways,  but  it 
was  unfortunate  when  he  boasted  and  dared  the  mob. 

They  had  planned  a  beautiful  temple.  They  would 
teach  everything  in  the  arts  and  sciences  in  it,  and  try 
to  live  so  that  God  would  help  them  understand  his 
law  of  life  and  living  in  all  the  earth.  Our  religion 
is  a  thing  that  makes  us  more  intelli- 
gent.  If  it  does  not,  then  we  are  not 
living  right,  for  the  glory  of  God  is 
intelligence ;  the  power  to  know  and  understand  things 
is  the  power  of  God,  and  if  we  have  it,  we  can  learn 
quickly  and  easily.  This  was  the  religion  these  men 


246  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

in  old  Far  West  taught,  and  it  is  the  one  Paul  and 
the  apostles  taught  in  the  Old  World.  So  Sidney 
Rigdon  was  right  in  teaching  that,  on  that  sunny 
Fourth  of  July,  but  he  boasted.  That  was  wrong. 
There  were  brave,  earnest,  honest  men  in  that  new 
town,  but  God  wanted  them  to  be  humble  and  gentle, 
too.  They  tried  to  keep  "liquor"  out  of 
the  town  and  keeP  things  people  had  to 
buy  down  to  a  low  price,  so  that  the 
poorest  could  have  clothing  and  food  of  the  best  kind. 
During  the  summer  many  prominent  men  had  come 
to  Far  West,— P.  P.  Pratt,  who  wrote  the  Voice  of 
Warning,  and  Elders  Kimball  and  Hyde,  who  had 
been  to  England.  They  preached  in  Far  West,  July 
29,  1838,  a  little  more  than  a  year  since  that  first  ser- 
mon in  England. 

By  great  perseverance,  the  third  number  of  the 
Elders'  Journal  was  printed  in  Far  West,  with  Doc- 
tor T.  B.  Marsh,  publisher.    The  papers  of  the  church 
had  a  hard  time  to  live.    And  now  we 
chauPrech8  °f  find    Frederick    G.    Williams    coming 

back  into  the  church.  He  was  confirmed 
August  5,  having  been  rebaptized.  But  Hyrum  Smith 
had  his  old  place  in  the  Presidency ;  still  he  came  back 
to  the  church  again.  Some  of  the  churchmen  still 
loved  him,  and  no  doubt  all  were  glad  to  welcome  him 
back. 

W.  W.  Phelps  had  been  postmaster,  and  now  Sid- 
ney Rigdon  was  appointed  by  the  Postmaster  General 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  247 

to  be  postmaster.  They  were  going  to  start  a  news- 
paper, and  they  were  trying  to  bring  the  county  seat 
to  Far  West,  but  maybe  they  were  forgetting  the 
Lord's  old  command,  back  in  1833:  "Be  not  in  haste, 
but  let  all  things  be  done  in  order."  At  least  they 
were  energetic  and  active. 

There  was  to  be  another  election  down  in  Gallatin, 
the  county  seat  of  Daviess  County,  and  as  Colonel 
William    P.    Peniston    wanted    to    be 
elected,  there  was  fear  of  trouble.    He         dSStfoS; 
had  led  the  mob  in  Clay  County,  and 
of  course  the  Saints  would  not  vote  for  him,  and  if 
possible,  would  vote  against  him.     On  election  day 
he  got  up  on  a  barrel  and  told  the  people 
how  wicked  and  terrible  the  "Mormons"     Snath!"  °f 
were.      Others   joined   with   him,    and 
there  was  a  "fist  fight."    Very  few  of  the  Saints  voted, 
but  the  story  of  the  fight  grew  every  hour.     No  one 
of  the  men  had  knife  or  gun,  but  when  the  story  got 
to  Far  West,  it  was  that  some  of  the  Saints  were 
killed  at  Gallatin,  and  the  mob  would  not  let  them  be 
buried.     The  mob  spread  their  way  of  telling  it,  too, 
until  the  whole  country  was  excited.     Of  course,  the 
leading  men  at  Far  West,  about  twenty  men  with 
guns  going  along,  started  to  help  the  men  of  the 
church  and  bury  the  dead. 

By  the  time  they  got  to  Lyman  Wight's,  the  Saints, 
had  come  from  Gallatin,  and  the  true  story  was  told. 
None  were  killed,  but  some  were  wounded,  and  some 


248  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

of  the  Missourians  had  their  skulls  cracked.  You  see 
there  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Missourians 
against  eight  or  twelve  of  the  Saints,  and  the  Saints 
fought  like  lions. 

The   Presidency   went   to   see   Judge   Black    (he 
wanted  to  be  elected,  too),  who  had  acted  unfairly  in 
business  before,  and  they  asked  him  po- 
litely  to  sign  an  agreement  of  peace. 
He  said  he  would  write  one  out  himself 
and  sign  it,  and  he  did.    This  is  a  copy  of  it : 

"I,  Adam  Black,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Davies 
county,  do  hereby  Sertify  to  the  people,  coled  Mor- 
min,  that  he  is  bound  to  suport  the  Constitution  of 
this  State,  and  of  the  United  State,  and  he  is  not  at- 
tached to  any  mob,  nor  will  not  attach  himself  to  any 
such  people,  and  so  long  as  they  will  not  molest  me,  I 
will  not  molest  them.  This  the  8th  day  of  August, 
1838. 

"ADAM  BLACK,  J.  P." 
[Meaning  Justice  of  the  Peace.] 
The  next  day  there  was  a  meeting  of  men  on  both 
sides  of  the  question,  at  Diahman.     They  promised 
to  be  in  peace,  and  be  careful  of  each 
other's  rights,  and  not  help  anyone  that 
did  wrong,  but  act  by  the  law,  and  be 
just.     They  parted  like  good  friends,  but  the  mob 
people  never  stopped  their  wickedness.     Down  by 
Diahman,  they  stole  hogs  and  cattle  from  the  Saints, 
and  said  they  would  shoot  the  people  with  a  cannon. 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  249 

They  tied  the  men,  or  women  and  children  to  trees 
and  whipped  them  with  hickory  withes,  and  left  them 
tied  for  days  without  food  or  water,  and  did  even  more 
terrible  and  brutal  things.  Daviess 
County  got  two  or  three  hundred  men 
together,  and  was  trying  to  drive  the 
Saints  away  from  the  Diahman  and  Millport  country, 
although  the  Saints  had  written  permission  to  stay, 
besides  having  bought  the  land. 

General  Atchison  belonged  to  the  state  militia,  a 
body  of  soldiers,  and  was  in  Clay  County.    He  came 
down  to  Millport  and  Diahman,  and     Missouri 
saw  how  things  were  there,  and  he  hur-     militia  not 
ried  back  and  sent  about  five  hundred 
soldiers  to  protect  the  "Mormons"  and  keep  things 
peaceable,  but  these  militiamen,  many  of  them,  hated 
the  "Mormons."     They  had  old  friends  among  the 
mobbers,  and  when  General  Atchison  discovered  this, 
he  was  in  a  hurry  to  get  them  out  without  a  fight,  and 
in  a  few  days  left  the  camp  at  Diahman  and  marched 
his  soldiers  away.    He  was  afraid  they  would  join  the 
mobbers,  and  they  were  doing  no  good,  for  the  Mis- 
sourians,  or  "Gentiles,"  shot  at  the  "Mormons,"  or 
Saints,  burned  their  houses,  stole  their  horses,  and 
drove  their  cattle  away.     Then  it  was  that  the  "Mor- 
mon militia,"   or  soldiers,  were  called 
together  and  got  their  guns  ready,  and 
the  trouble  called  the  "Mormon  War"  in  Missouri 
had  begun. 


25()  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  |J838 

And  while  they  are  getting  out  guns,  and  filling 
powder  horns,  and  loading  shot  pouches,  and  getting 
wads  ready,  we  will  look  in  on  the  church  in  Kirtland. 
You  know  we  left  it  full  of  the  bad  spirit  of  anger  and 
hatred  and  jealousy;  but  there  were  many  there  who 
were  faithful  and  true  to  the  church  and  God's  laws. 


1888 J  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  251 


CHAPTER  55. 

The  Seventies  Start  for  Kirtland. 

IT  WAS  in  January  when  we  followed  Joseph  Smith 
and  Sidney  Rigdon  out  of  the  town,  and  we  know  lit- 
tle about  the  things  done  then  until  about  March  6, 
1838.  That  day  the  Seventies  gathered  in  the  Temple 
to  talk  up  plans  for  moving  to  Missouri.  They  were 
going  as  a  quorum,  all  together,  and  they  agreed  to 
go  in  a  camp,  organized  something  like 
the  Zion's  Camp  that  went  up  to  Clay 
County  in  1833.  They  invited  all  to 
go  with  them  who  would  keep  the  laws  of  the  camp. 
There  were  about  one  hundred  seventy-five  of  the 
Seventy.  I  think  we  would  look  twice  at  the  tents 
pitched  south  of  the  Temple  on  that  fifth  day  of  July, 
1838.  They  looked  very  orderly  and  neat.  The  next 
day  at  noon,  we  would  see  the  long  procession  of 
white-covered  wagons  moving  southward  'over  the 
sunny  hills  of  Ohio.  There  were  fifty-nine  wagons, 
carrying  five  hundred  and  fifteen  men,  women,  and 
children  away  to  the  new  place  of  gathering  in  Mis- 
souri. 

Just  ahead  of  them  was  another  company,  the  D. 
C.  Smith  Camp,  of  seven  wagons  and  twenty-eight 
people.  This  company  was  losing  horses  by  death, 
and  their  numbers  were  sick  and  poor.  It  was  rainy 
and  cold  when  they  started  in  May.  In  this  camp  was 


252  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

a  baby  only  two  weeks  old,  and  the  sick  and  aged 
parents  of  Joseph  Smith.  The  Seventies'  Camp  had 
their  journey  made  unpleasant  and  dangerous  by  the 
mobs.  When  it  was  necessary  to  prepare  provisions 
and  wash  clothes,  the  camp  stopped,  the  women  wash- 
ing and  ironing  and  baking,  the  men  working  for 
farmers,  digging  brush  and  reaping  and  binding- 
grain,  and  thus  earned  money  to  help  them  along. 

August  12,  they  joined  a  camp  from  Canada  under 
charge  of  John  E.  Page,  and  together  they  held  a 
meeting  and  the  Canadian  camp  moved 
on-  Means  grew  scarce,  when  nine  or 
ten  families  stopped  and  got  places  to 
work  for  the  winter,  but  the  Seventies  went  on.  They 
were  anxious  to  get  their  families  settled  so  they  could 
be  out  preaching.  In  spite  of  their  care,  food  became 
Seventies'  scarce.  For  days  they  lived  on  boiled 

camp  suffer  corn  and  milk.  Sometimes  they  made 
"shaving  pudding"  by  shaving  the 
cooked  co"rn  into  milk.  By  selling  some  of  their  goods, 
they  kept  from  starving.  The  camp  began  to  show 
the  effect  of  the  suffering,  for  many  stopped  by  the 
way  to  work  for  a  living  until  there  were  only  two 
hundred  and  sixty  left  of  the  five  hundred  and  fifteen 
who  marched  away  from  Kirtland  that  noontime  in 
July. 

They  found  many  such  camps  moving  along  the 
roads  now.  There  were  four  of  the  Seven  Presidents 
with  them,  and  these  were  the  ones  who  advised  what 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  253 

to  do,  when  they  were  undecided.  The  John  E.  Page 
Company  arrived  at  the  town  of  De  Witt  in  the  last 
week  of  September.  The  Seventies'  Camp  came  into 
Far  West  a  few  days  after  the  D.  C.  Smith  Camp,  and 
pushed  on  to  Adam-ondi-Ahman,  October  4,  1838. 
This  is  the  way  people  poured  into  these  new  towns, 
and  many,  hearing  of  the  soldiers  and  mobs,  stopped 
on  the  way.  It  took  a  great  deal  of  food  to  supply 
all  of  these  people,  and  what  had  not  been  raised  by 
the  Saints  on  their  land  had  to  be  hauled  many  miles 
in  wagons  or  boats.  Then,  too,  all  these  cattle  and 
horses  must  be  fed.  But  the  Missourians  were  busy 
driving  off  and  killing  all  the  cattle  they  could  for 
their  own  evil  purposes.  Men  gathered  from  eleven 
counties  to  make  war  against  the  church  leaders.  The 
church  had  already  paid  out  large  sums  of  money  to 
hire  lawyers  to  help  the  Saints  in  the 


i  I.*-        j.     •       •  uj.          j    •  law- 

work  01   getting  their  rights,   and   in 

September,  1838,  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon 
began  to  study  law  with  the  firm  of  Atchison  and 
Doniphan,  that  they  might  do  this  work  for  the  church 
and  save  money. 

Already  the  church  in  Caldwell  County  had  some 
county  officers.  Elias  Higbee  was  a  justice  of  the 
Caldwell  County  Court.  You  know  he  was  one  of  the 
Missouri  church  historians,  too,  and  we  shall  find  him 
on  an  important  mission  for  the  church  a  few  years 
after  that,  so  we  will  try  to  get  acquainted  with  him. 


254 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


[1838 


CHAPTER  56. 

The  Sound  of  Battle. 

Now  COME  down  into  Missouri.  It  is  the  middle  of 
September,  1838;  the  beautiful,  peaceful  month  of 
September.  The  long,  rolling  hills  are  echoing  to 
warlike  sounds,  and  here  and  there  are  men  with  guns. 

In  companies  they  march 
and  countermarch  and 
practice  shooting.  Not 
many  miles  apart,  near  to 
Millport  on  the  one  side, 
and  Wight's  Ferry  on  the 
other,  are  two  camps  of 
these  men  with  guns  and 
camp  fires  and  warlike 
actions.  The  Millport 
Company  is  the  Missouri- 
ans,  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  of  them,  com- 
manded by  Doctor  Austin, 
of  Carroll  County ;  and  the 
one  over  by  the  Ferry  is  the 
"Diahman  Boys,"  under 
command  of  Lyman 
Wight.  These  latter  were  regular  state  soldiers,  the 
county  volunteers,  and  all  of  them  Saints. 

General  Alexander  Doniphan,  the  good  statesman 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

who  helped  the  Saints  to  get  Caldwell  County,  was 
a  soldier,  too,  and  he  was  sent  out  in  command  of  a 
company  of  soldiers  to  stop  the  quarreling  and  keep 
these  people  from  fighting.  He  marched  his  little  army 
of  men  right  into  the  road  between  the 
two  camps.  The  Diahman  Boys  were 
just  two  and  one  half  miles  away;  the 
Missourians  on  the  other  side  kept  changing  camp, 
sometimes  nearer,  sometimes  further.  Soon  after  this, 
Major  General  Atchison  came  onto  the  scene.  The 
men  were  ordered  back  to  their  homes,  and  most  of 
the  troops  of  soldiers  left  for  home,  leaving  a  company 
or  two  around  in  the  county  to  keep  peace.  The 
"Mormons"  were  merely  defending  themselves,  and 
were  glad  to  have  peace. 

A  church  committee  met  a  mob  committee,  and 
agreed  to  buy  the  land  of  all  the  mob  men  who  wanted 
to    leave    Daviess    County.       Things 
seemed  to  be  settled,  and  the  mob  left     j^mob^  of 
Daviess  County.     But  we  will  follow 
these  mobbers,  and  we  will  see.    They  go  straight  to 
the  little  "Mormon"  town  of  De  Witt,  in  Carroll 
County,  and  camp  near  it,  and  on  Tuesday,  October 
2,  1838,  fire  on  the  Saints,  under  order  of  Doctor 
Austin.     On  the  fourth,  the  mob  again  fired  on  the 
Saints. 

Now  we  find  a  Missouri  soldier  who  is  in  command 
of  a  small  army  down  in  Missouri,  offering  to  have  his 
men  ready  in  an  hour  to  go  up  to  this  scene  of  war. 


256  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1888 

And  who  do  you  suppose  this  man  is,  who  writes  a  let- 
ter to  the  governor  calling  the  Saints  "base  and  de- 
graded beings,"  and  offering  to  go  fight 
An  old  enemy.        ,         r.       ^  i_          .  i 

them?  Do  you  remember  the  man 
named  Lucas  who  helped  to  drive  the  Saints  out  of 
Jackson  County?  This  is  the  man,  Samuel  D.  Lucas. 
He  wanted  to  get  into  the  fight,  and  offers  to  go  with 
his  part  of  the  army  to  make  war.  The  Saints  sent  a 
messenger,  a  man  not  a  Saint,  named  Caldwell,  to  the 
governor  to  get  help,  but  the  man  who  was  not  a  Saint 
came  back,  just  as  the  Saints  had  come,  without  any 
comfort.  The  governor  said  it  was  a  quarrel  between 
the  "Mormons"  and  the  mob,  and  they  could  fight  it 
out. 

The  mob  got  a  cannon  from  Jackson  County  and 
brought  it  up  to  use  in  their  war  on  these  people  they 

called  "Mormons."  This  made  their 
Jahnnon.°bberS'  work  of  killing  more  deadly  and  terrible 

than  before.  The  De  Witt  people  had 
no  food,  and  were  shot  at  if  they  went  to  get  any.  So 
some  of  them  died  of  starvation  while  the  mob  killed 
and  ate  their  cattle,  and  finally  the  Saints  agreed  to 
leave  the  place.  General  Doniphan  had  found  the 
soldiers  what  he  called  "rotten-hearted,"  for  they 
would  not  obey,  and  wanted  to  join  the  mob,  and  he 
ordered  them  back  to  headquarters. 

The  Saints  managed  to  get  to  Far  West,  but  the 
mob  shot  at  them  and  abused  them  all  the  way.  One 
woman  died,  and  was  buried  without  a  coffin.  The 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  257 

mob  knew  that  the  men  in  power  in  Missouri  would 
not  help  the  Saints,  and  they  wanted  to  drive  them  out 
and  get  their  land  and  houses  without  paying  for 
them,  so  they  were  not  satisfied  when  the  Saints  left 
Carroll  County  where  the  town  of  De  Witt  was. 
They  followed  them  into  other  counties. 

General  Doniphan  ordered  the  "Mormon"  soldiers 
to  get  together  and  march  up  to  Diahman  and  protect 
the  Daviess  Count  Saints.  General 


Parks  ordered  Lyman  Wight  to  take     boys  sent  as 
,  .  ,  ,11        protection. 

his  men  and  go  out  to  stop  the  mob 

from  burning  houses  and  driving  women  and  children 
away  from  their  homes.  Some  of  their  women  had  to 
wade  Grand  River  fwith  the  water  waist  deep,  carry- 
ing their  little  children,  and  hide  in  the  brush  to  keep 
from  being  treated  most  terribly  by  these  drunken, 
rough  mobbers.  Now  there  were  many  bands  of  mob- 
bers.  They  swore  to  the  men  in  power 

.  *  .  Diahman  boys 

that  the  wicked  things  done  by  them  was     find  buried 
the  work  of  the  "Mormons,"  but  the     cani 
"Mormon"  soldiers  drove  them  out  of  Daviess  County 
because  the  generals  ordered  the  men  to  do  it.  They 
obeyed  the  law  and  did  it,  and  the  mob  buried  their 
Jackson  County  cannon,  and  the  Diahman  Boys  dug 
it  up  and  took  it  back  with  them. 

But  there  was  more  trouble  coming  for  the  church 
from  her  own  people.  Thomas  B.  Marsh  turned 
traitor.  He  was  President  of  the  Twelve,  and  one  of 
the  council,  and  the  church  people  trusted  him  greatly, 


258  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  1 1838 

but  he  went  to  Richmond  and  told  strange,  false 
things  against  the  church,  and  Orson  Hyde  swore  that 
what  he  said  was  true. 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  259 

CHAPTER  57. 

The  Battle  of  Crooked  River. 

THE  ARMED  mobbers  were  near  to  Far  West  now, 
and  were  carrying  men  off  and  burning  houses,  and 
were  ready  to  march  onto  Far  West  and  give  it  what 
they  called  "thunder  and  lightning."  This  band  was 
commanded  by  Captain  Bogart,  a  minister  in  a  well- 
known  church. 

Judge  Higbee,  the  highest  judge  of  the  county, 
ordered  the  trumpet  to  blow,  and  the  brethren  gath- 
ered on  the  public  square  at  midnight, 
and  about  seventy-five  of  them  offered 
to  go  out  and  scatter  the  camp  of  mob- 
bers and  get  the  men  they  had  for  prisoners  before 
they  could  come  onto  Far  West.  Oh,  that  was  an 
awful  time  for  everybody,  for  these  men  knew  little 
of  war,  and  they  could  not  see  the  camp  down  by  the 
river.  Daylight  was  coming  just  back  of  them,  and 
they  showed  plain  against  the  light  of  morning.  They 
left  part  of  the  men  with  the  horses  and  moved  slowly 
toward  the  band  of  mobbers  down  on  the  bank  of  the 
creek.  Marching  so  silently,  thoughts  of  the  old  peo- 
ple and  women  and  children  back  in  the  quiet  town 
of  Far  West  spurred  them  on.  They  could  not  see 
much,  for  it  was  dark  yet,  down  on  the  banks  of 
Crooked  Creek. 

Suddenly  a  gun  shot  sounded,  and  a  young  man 
named  O'Banion  fell  wounded  to  the  ground.  Cap- 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

tain  Patten  ordered  the  men  to  charge  on  the  camp. 
They  ran  down  the  hill  and  formed  a  line,  but  the  mob 
was  under  the  bank,  on  the  edge  of  the  creek  or  river 
below  their  tents,  where  the  shadow  of  night  still  lin- 
gered, while  the  Patten  men  were  in  the  light  where 
they  made  easy  marks  whenever  the  mob  fired.  The 
little  bunch  of  men  in  the  light  fired  back,  calling  out 
their  watchword,  "God  and  liberty,"  and  soon  they 
made  a  charge.  They  fought  with  swords,  and  the 
mob  turned  and  ran  into  the  river  and  up  the  other 
bank,  but  one  of  the  mobbers  hid  behind  a  tree  and 
shot  Captain  Patten.  He  suffered  great  pain,  and 

there  was  much  sorrow,  for  he  was  loved 
Fear^ot."  ky  all  who  knew  him.  He  was  a  brave 

man  and  was  so  courageous  that  his 
friends  called  him  "Captain  Fear  Not."  He  also  was 
one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  but  never  a  coward. 

The  ten  men  left  to  hold  the  horses  now  came  up 
to  the  battle  ground.  They  lifted  the  wounded  men 
into  the  wagons  and  started  for  Far  West.  Gideon 
Carter  was  dead,  and  Elder  Patten  was  suffering  in- 
tensely. Slowly  and  carefully  they  journeyed  with 
him  back  toward  Far  West.  He  begged  them  to  let 
him  be  still  and  die.  Friends  met  them  with  carriages 
and  bandages,  and  the  broken  and  saddened  little  com- 
pany scattered  to  their  homes,  but  Elder  Patten  only 
lived  to  speak  a  few  words  to  his  wife,  telling  her  to 
keep  the  faith  and  be  true  to  it.  He  died,  and  they 
laid  his  body  in  the  graveyard  at  Far  West, 


18881  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

There  were  many  wounded  at  this  first  real  battle, 
called  the  battle  of  Crooked  River. 

Sister  Frances,  in  her  book,  With  the  Church  in  an 
Early  Day,  tells  this  story  very  faithfully  and  beau- 
tifully. 

No  one  can  ever  guess  at  the  confused  and  terrible 
condition  of  the  country  at  this  time.  The  mobbers 
were  little  more  than  outlaws,  but  they 
had  all  the  advantage  of  outlaws,  rob- 
bers,  murderers,  and  soldiers  of  the  gov- 
ernor. The  men  who  were  expected  to  see  that  men 
kept  the  law  were  nearly  all  of  them  on  the  side  of  the 
outlaws.  The  Saints  had  been  told  by  the  leading  men 
of  the  church  to  get  into  the  cities  and  large  towns  as 
soon  as  possible,  for  no  "Mormon"  was  safe. 

The  Saints  needed  their  corn  and  potatoes  and  other 
things,  and  many  of  them  had  stayed  to  gather  them 
in  from  the  fields.  But  after  the  De  Witt  trouble 
came  the  fight  on  Crooked  River  in  which  David  Pat- 
ten was  killed.  There  was  terror  everywhere.  Cap- 
tain Bogart  had  led  the  mobbers  at  this  fight,  and 
when  his  men  ran  from  the  Saints,  they  told  many 
stories  of  the  fight  and  made  it  appear  that  the  Saints 
were  the  only  ones  who  had  done  the  least  thing  wrong. 

Do  you  remember  that  bad  man  named  Lucas  who 
led  the  soldiers  in  driving  the  Saints  out  of  Jackson 
County,  the  one  who  called  the  Saints  "base  and  de- 
graded beings"?  This  was  the  man  whom  Governor 
Boggs  sent  with  several  thousand  men  to  Far  West. 


202  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1838 

He  wanted  to  come.     Maybe  you  think  that  general 
and  all  his  soldiers  might  have  come  to  Far  West  to 

protect  the  people  from  the  mob.  Some 
tLoUFa8r  Cw™tS  of  the  Saints  thought  that  for  a  time. 

Maybe  you  think,  like  some  others  did, 
it  was  to  keep  peace  on  both  sides.  Let  us  see  what 
they  did. 

For  months  now,  the  governor  had  been  hearing 
tales  of  abuse  and  bad  treatment  from  both  the  Saints 
and  Missourians.  He  had  no  love  for  the  Saints,  and 
he  had  many  friends  among  the  outlaws.  Some  of 
them  were  preachers,  too,  of  the  churches  that  he  liked. 
He  had  sent  Atchison  and  Doniphan  with  their  sol- 
diers, and  these  men  had  been  too  careful,  kind,  and 
wise.  He  did  not  seem  to  like  their  ways.  Now  he 
puts  such  men  as  Generals  Clark  and  Lucas  in  power, 
and  tells  them  to  march  against  the  "Mormons"  and 
drive  them  from  the  State  or  kill  them. 

General  Atchison  got  his  orders  to  do  these  inhu- 
man things,  and  he  immediately  left  his  army  of  men 

under  General  Lucas  and  went  to  his 

General    Atch- 
ison leaves          home   in   Liberty,   Missouri.      General 

Clark  did  not  belong  by  rights  in  com- 
mand over  some  of  these  other  officers;  but  he  and 
Lucas  were  just  about  wicked  enough  to  do  the  cruel 
things  that  Governor  Boggs  ordered,  and  so  they 
were  put  in  charge  of  the  army,  and  the  Saints  were 
helpless. 

The  words  of  the  governor  flew  from  one  band 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  263 

of  outlaws  to  another,  and  the  Saints  were  in  great 
and  constant  danger.  Far  West  was 
full  of  women  and  children  and  old  men. 
Some  places,  men  and  women  were  still 
busy  trying  to  gather  their  crops,  in  constant  terror  of 
the  mobs.  The  nights  were  cold,  but  the  days  were 
beautiful  as  fall  days  can  be.  Smoky  and  hazy  lay 
the  new  country  of  upper  Missouri.  The  soldiers, 
called  volunteer  militia,  gathered  from  different  coun- 
ties, were  nothing  more  than  mobs.  They  took  many 
men  prisoners,  and  whipped  and  abused  them.  One 
named  Gary  they  struck  on  the  head,  crushing  it  open, 
and  then  hauled  him  in  a  wagon  with  them  without 
the  least  care  or  attention  all  one  day  and  night. 


204  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 


CHAPTER  58. 

The  Massacre  at  Haun's  Mill. 

Now,,  LEAVING  them  marching  along  the  country 
toward  Far  West,  we  will  look  upon  a  most  beautiful 
little  spot  on  the  north  side  of  Shoal  Creek  in  Mis- 
souri, where  a  man  named  Jacob  Haun  kept  a  mill  to 
grind  corn  into  meal  for  the  people.  This  village  had 
about  twenty  families  in  it,  but  it  started  first  with 
this  man  Haun,  who  was  a  Saint.  He  built  a  black- 
smith shop  and  mill  and  fixed  things  up  quite  comfort- 
ably. The  mill  was  very  busy  all  these  autumn  days, 
for  many  of  the  travelers  came  this  way  to  Far  West 
and  stopped  to  get  their  wagons  fixed  at  the  shop,  and 
some  corn  ground  into  meal  at  the  mill.  It  was,  as 
all  agree,  a  pretty  place,  with  willows  by  the  river  or 
creek,  and  hazel  brush  and  sumac  and  low  shrubs  on 
the  edge  of  the  wood  near  it. 

Many  of  the  Saints  had  left  their  farms  and  were 
living  in  tents  or  wagons  in  this  little  village,  because 
they  were  afraid  of  the  militiamen  and  Missourians. 
Not  one  of  these  Saints  had  ever  done  a  thing  against 
the  Missourians.  They  had  heard  the  governor  was 
going  to  try  to  drive  them  out,  and  Joseph  Smith  had 
told  them  they  had  better  come  to  Far  West,  twenty 
miles  away,  but  they  did  not  want  to  lose  their  prop- 
erty, and  they  banded  together  to  protect  themselves. 
On  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  October,  after  some  war- 


1838] 


VOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


265 


"Suddenly  on  the  quiet  little  village  there  came  a  rush  of  men  shouting 

and  shooting." 


like  preparations  by  both  parties,  the  Saints  and  mob- 
bers  had  a  meeting  and  promised  to  let  each  other 
alone  so  long  as  they  each  were  peace- 
able, and  both  parties  were  to  put  up 
their  guns;  but  the  Saints  heard  that 
there  were  soldiers  coming  from  another  way  to  attack 
them,  and  they  kept  watch  all  night  lest  they  be  killed 
while  they  slept. 

These  men  did  come  up  the  next  day  and  join  the 


A  peace 
meeting. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

band  on  the  north  of  the  mill,  and  suddenly  on  the 
quiet  little  village  there  came  a  rush  of  men  shouting 
and  shooting,  and  men,  women,  and  children  ran  every 
way,  trying  to  hide.  Many  of  them  ran  into  the  black- 
smith's shop,  a  house  built  of  logs,  but  the  mob  fol- 
lowed them.  A  little  boy,  nine  years  old,  named 
Charles  Merrick,  was  hidden  under  the  bellows.  They 
drove  him  out  and  shot  him  most  brutally.  Another 
boy  of  ,ten,  named  Sardius  Smith,  was  found  in  the 
same  hiding  place  by  these  wretches  and  shot  as  he  was 
begging  for  mercy.  Not  only  the  men  and  children 
were  shot  and  butchered,  but  one  old  soldier,  a  man  of 
seventy-five  years,  who  had  fought  under  Gates  and 
Washington,  was  shot,  and  fell,  and  a  mobber  named 
Rogers  came  to  him  as  he  lay  dying  and  took  his  gun 
from  him  and  fired  it  into  his  breast,  then  hacked  him 
in  a  fiendish  way  with  a  long  corn  knife. 

After  killing  or  driving  all  the  Saints  away,  these 
Missouri  mobbers  looted  the  place,  carrying  away 
everything  of  value,  and  leaving  the  dy- 

inS  and  dead  alone  in  the  twilight-  They 
had  been  two  hours  in  the  little  village, 

and  deadly  hours  they  had  been  for  the  peaceful  people 
they  had  found  there.  Now  they  rode  away  like  a 
pack  of  demons,  and  the  twilight  deepened  to  dusk. 
The  waters  of  the  mill  pond  rippled  and  purred  over 
their  stony  bounds.  A  whippoorwill  gave  a  low  call 
somewhere  in  the  distance,  and  nearer,  the  moans  of 
the  wounded  came  to  the  ears  of  those  who  had  made 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  267 

a  safe  hiding  place,  and  they  came  timidly  out  and 
stole  softly  to  the  sides  of  the  dying.  A  mist  of  fog 
settled  over  the  place,  shading  the  dreadful  scene  from 
the  light  of  the  autumn  moon.  An  owl  hooted  long 
and  constantly  from  the  woodland,  and  the  sad- 
hearted  remnant  of  the  Haun's  Mill  village  broke  into 
sobs  and  shrieks  of  frightened  sorrow. 

Gradually  reason  returned,  and  the  wounded  were 
cared  for  as  best  could  be  with  the  means  they  had. 
They  sang  a  hymn  and  prayed.  What  a  night  of 
horror  that  was!  One  woman,  named  Olive  Ames, 
with  her  four  little  children,  hid  in  the  bushes  so  close 
to  the  path  that  she  could  hear  and  see  much  of  what 
took  place.  I  knew  her  in  her  old  age,  and  have  often 
listened  to  her  story,  told  in  her  gentle  way,  with  its 
many  unwritten  details.  It  was  a  sad  thing  to  remem- 
ber ;  but  her  children  were  not  killed. 

When  morning  came,  they  knew  they  must  bury 
the  dead.     There  were  no  coffins,  no  graves,  and  no 
one  to  prepare  them.     They  expected 
that  the  mob  would  return  any  moment     ?0nre  ^ulcher 
and  kill  the  few  who  were  living.    Jos- 
eph Young  and  two  other  men,  with  the  help  of  the 
women,  carried  the  dead  on  a  plank  and  slid  them 
into  an  unfinished  dry  well  that  was  not  far  away. 
That  was  a  hard  way  to  treat  the  dead,  but  after  cover- 
ing them  with  hay  and  some  dirt,  they  had  done  what 
they  could  and  spent  their  strength  caring  for  the 
wounded. 


2(58  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

That  day  some  of  Captain  Comstock's  men  were 
sent  back  to  bury  the  dead,  but  were  quite  glad  to 
find  them  disposed  of,  and  they  rode  away,  but  not 
until  they  had  told  the  people  they  must  leave  the 
State  or  they  would  all  be  killed.  Comstock's  men 
joined  Colonel  Jennings  and  started  for  Far  West. 
Of  course  Governor  Boggs  had  not  told  Colonel  Jen- 
nings to  do  this  dreadful  thing  at  Haun's  Mill,  but 
he  afterward  let  people  know  that  he  thought  it  was 
all  right.  All  right !  when  little  boys  begged  for  mercy 
and  were  shot  to  death;  old  soldiers  were  butchered, 
and  young  girls  and  women  treated  with  insolence  and 
brutality?  When  they  cried  for  mercy,  the  mobbers 
did  not  care.  How  can  it  be  all  right? 

Among  this  mob  were  men  from  the  legislature, 
and  preachers  and  men  known  in  the  history  of  the 
State  as  prominent  men.  It  was  just  a 

few  days  later  that  about  one  hundred 
of  these  men  came  back  to  the  village, 
all  painted  like  Indians,  and  stayed  at  Haun's  Mill 
for  nine  days,  grinding  the  people's  grain,  killing  their 
hogs  and  cattle,  and  robbing  bee  stands,  but  never  let- 
ting the  Saints  get  food  of  any  kind.  Many  of  the 
Saints  suffered  and  died  for  want  of  food  and  medical 
care.  In  the  darkness  of  the  unfinished  well  fifteen 
men  and  boys  were  left  on  that  sad  night  of  October 
31,  1838,  and  the  men  who  had  taken  their  lives 
marched  away  to  other  fields  of  such  glory  as  this, 
away  over  the  prairies  of  beautiful  Missouri. 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  269 


CHAPTER  59. 

The  Army   Before  Far  West. 

IN  FAR  WEST  things  had  not  been  so  terrible  in 
bloodshed  and  death,  but  it  was  because  there  were 
some  honorable  and  brave  men  among  the  ranks  of 
the  thousands  that  General  Lucas  had  marched  to 
Goose  Creek  and  encamped  less  than  a  mile  south- 
east of  the  city  of  Far  West.  While  the  men  and 
women  left  in  Haun's  Mill  village  were 

Waiting  to 

burying  their  dead,  the  army  near  Far     destroy  Far 

West   was   awaiting   orders   from   the 

general    to    move    to    Far    West    and    destroy    it. 

Colonel  Hinkle  and  John  Corrill  for  the  Saints, 
went  out  with  a  flag  and  met  the  men  with  a  flag  from 
the  soldiers  and  agreed  to  several  things ;  first,  to  give 
up  the  church  leaders  to  be  tried  and  punished ;  second, 
to  take  the  property  of  the  Mormons  who  had  taken 
up  arms,  to  pay  damage  done  by  them  to  the  mobbers ; 
third,  the  rest  of  the  Mormons  would  leave  the  State, 
but  they  were  to  be  protected  by  the  militia  or  soldiers 
and  could  stay,  and  be  protected  until  they  heard  from 
the  commander-in-chief,  who  was  John  B.  Clark;  and 
fourth,  the  Saints  would  give  up  all  guns  and  the 
general  would  give  them  a  receipt  to  hold  as  proof 
that  they  had  turned  them  over  to  the  state  officers. 

Now,  Colonel  Hinkle  did  not  tell  the  church  leaders 
what  he  had  promised  to  do.  He  told  the  Prophet 


270  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

that  the  general  wanted  to  talk  with  them  that  they 
might  arrange  things  so  the  governor's  order  to  kill 
or  drive  them  away  need  not  be  carried 
^eirHinkle°!0"     out-    So  Joseph  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon, 
P.  P.  Pratt,  Lyman  Wight,  and  George 
W.  Robinson  went  with  George  M.  Hinkle  to  meet 
the  officers  of  the  Missouri  army;  and  think  of  their 
surprise  when  Colonel  Hinkle  said  to  Generals  Lucas, 
Wilson,    and   Doniphan,    "Gentlemen, 
t^tytcL3  be"         these  are  tne  prisoners  I  agreed  to  de- 
liver up  to  you."    The  soldiers  hallooed 
and  shouted  in  a  wild  frenzy  while  a  guard  of  ninety 
soldiers  was  put  around  these  men. 

The  rain  fell  in  torrents,  and  the  fall  winds  grew 
cold,  but  there  was  no  protection  from  the  storm  of 
nature  nor  the  insults  and  foul  talk  of  these  soldiers 
of  Missouri;  but  one  thing  they  accomplished.  They 
found  as  prisoner,  among  others,  the  Brother  Gary 
who  had  had  his  skull  crushed  by  Bogart's  men,  still 
suffering.  The  officers  let  the  other  prisoners  carry 
this  wounded  man  to  Far  West,  but  he  died  soon  after 
reaching  home. 

On  Thursday,  November  1,  1838,  Hyrum  Smith 
and  Amasa  Lyman  were  brought  into  the  camp  as 
prisoners,  and  that  morning  they  held  a  court-martial, 
and  General  Doniphan  received  this  order: 

" Brigadier-General  Doniphan;  Sir:  You  will  take 
Joseph  Smith  and  the  other  prisoners  into  the  public 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  271 

square  of  Far  West,  and  shoot  them  at  nine  o'clock 
to-morrow  morning. 

"SAMUEL  D.  LUCAS, 
fc  Major -General  Commanding" 

A  court-martial  is  the  trial  of  soldiers,  arid  Lyman 
Wight  was  the  only  man  among  these  prisoners  who 
had  a  commission,  or  the  power  of  a  soldier.  If  the 
others  were  bad  men,  they  should  have  been  tried  in 
civil  courts  like  we  have  in  the  courthouses,  and  by 
judges  and  not  by  soldiers.  General  Doniphan  was 
a  brave  man,  brave  enough  to  fight  anywhere,  and 
brave  enough  to  refuse  to  fight  if  it  was  best  to  do  so ; 
but  this  was  the  way  he  did  in  this  case.  He  sent  the 
following  reply  to  his  commanding  offi-  Doniphan  re- 
cer:  "It  it  cold-blooded  murder.  I  will  fuses' 
not  obey  your  order.  My  brigade  shall  march  for 
Liberty  to-morrow  morning,  at  eight  o'clock;  and  if 
you  execute  those  men,  I  will  hold  you  responsible 
before  an  earthly  tribunal,  so  help  me  God ! 

"A.  W.  DONIPHAN,  Brigadier-General." 

He  marched  away  with  his  part  of  the  army.     It 
was  Doniphan  who  had  told  Lyman  Wight  the  day 
before  this  that  they  were  to  be  executed,  and  that 
lie  would  not  let  his  men  see  such  cold- 
blooded murder.    He  shook  hands  with     ™rsoners  of 
this  soldier  and  bade  him  farewell.    The 
shooting  was  to  be  Friday  morning.     It  was  never 
done,  but  the  merA  were  carried  prisoners  of  war  into 


272  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

Jackson  County.  Their  best  friends  were  gone  now 
from  the  corps  of  officers,  and  their  bitterest  enemies 
held  them  in  bondage.  The  action  of  General  Doni- 
phan  had  saved  their  lives,  for  some  of  the  soldiers 
were  heard  to  say:  "The  Mormons  will  not  be  shot  this 
time" ;  and  they  blamed  Doniphan  for  it. 

On  Thursday,  November  1,  1838,  the  Caldwell  sol- 
diers were  ordered  by  Lucas  to  march  out  of  town; 
Colonel  Hinkle  marched  them  out,  and  they  gave  up 
their  arms.  Then  the  governor's  soldiers  marched 
Governor's  sol-  ^n^°  town  and  tore  up  haystacks  and 
We"  ln  FaF  fl°ors  and  destroyed  or  carried  away 
everything  they  could  find  of  value,  in 
a  drunken,  insulting  riot.  Then,  taking  eighty  more 
of  the  Far  West  men  prisoners,  they  ordered  the  rest 
to  leave  the  State,  and  if  more  than  three  were  found 
together  in  one  place,  they  might  expect  to  be  shot. 

When  the  men  were  taken  from  Far  West,  some  of 
them  were  not  allowed  to  see  their  families  to  say 
good-bye,  and  when  the  little  children  of  Joseph  Smith 
clung  to  him  and  cried  (for  they  thought  the  soldiers 
would  kill  him) ,  the  soldiers  just  pushed  them  rudely 
away  with  their  swords  and  swore  at  them  as  they 
hurried  the  men  away  to  an  unknown  fate. 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  273 


CHAPTER  60. 

Traitors  in  the  Church. 

THERE  are  few  things  so  despised  by  men  as  a 
traitor.  The  church  in  Missouri  had  to  deal  with  sev- 
eral of  her  keenest,  most  brainy  men  who  had  turned 
traitors.  Thomas  B.  Marsh,  one  of  the  Twelve,  went' 
to  Richmond,  Ray  County,  Missouri,  and  gave  false 
evidence  against  the  church,  as  you  will  remember; 
and  Orson  Hyde,  our  missionary  to  England,  was 
back  of  him  in  his  evil  work.  We  will  hear  from  these 
men  again,  and  let  them  explain  their  own  actions. 
Then  George  H inkle  and  John  Corrill  secretly  put 
the  whole  church  into  the  power  of  the  mob  by  the  con- 
tract they  made  with  General  Lucas,  and  by  telling 
lies  were  able  to  give  the  leading  men  up  for  prisoners, 
and  so  far  as  they  then  knew,  to  be  colonel 
killed.  We  shall  hear  from  H  inkle  again.  •  Hinkle's 

f^XCUSG 

Let  him  explain  why  he  did  this  work 
of  a  traitor,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  there  was  no 
other  way  to  save  the  hundreds  of  people  in  Far  West. 
There  were  three  thousand  men  in  the  governor's 
troops,  and  only  about  five  hundred  of  the  church 
troops,  and  the  militia  was  wild  for  slaughter.  The 
outlaws  of  the  soldiery  when  they  returned  to  Haun's 
Mill  were  painted  up  like  Indians,  and  danced  and 
yelled  like  those  red  men  with  whom  they  had  so  lately 
been  at  war ;  and  thinking  on  this  Colonel  Hinkle  con- 


274  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

sidered  it  better  to  sacrifice  a  few  lives  than  to  have  a 
slaughter  more  terrible  than  the  one  at  Haun's  Mill. 
But  readers  of  Church  History  recall  the  story  of 
the  first  Mormon  troubles  in  Jackson  County.  There 
Action  of  Par-  was  a  man  there  who  was  offered  by 
Hinkie  ^m-  himself  to  the  mob  as  a  sacrifice  to  their 


pared*  fury,  that  his  brethren  might  have  their 

lives  and  go  free  ;  offered  to  an  infuriated  and  drunken 
mob  which  was  acting  without  the  least  likeness  to  law. 
You  remember  that  act  of  Bishop  Edward  Partridge 
and  six  others  in  Independence,  do  you  not?  Now 
notice.  Hinkie  had  carried  arms,  was  a  commanding 
colonel,  and  if  anyone  was  under  military  discipline, 
he  certainly  was.  Yet  he  was  not  among  the  con- 
demned that  were  taken  away  from  Far  West.  What 
became  of  Colonel  Hinkie?  He  was  expelled  from 
the  church.  He  died  many  years  ago  in  Iowa.  His- 
torians tell  us  he  was  a  Kentuckian  and  a  brave  man, 
but  there  is  'little  proof  of  it  in  this  action  of  his. 

And  what  of  John  Corrill,  the  gifted,  brilliant  man 

who  carried  the  petition  of  the  Saints  up  to  the  state 

house  at  Jefferson  City?    In  a  letter  of  President  Jos- 

eph Smith  from  Independence,  Novem- 

aepriso^erm  ber    4>    1838>    Just    tw°    days    afte1'    the 

scene  on  the  public  square  at  Far  West, 
he  writes  to  his  wife,  Emma  Hale:  "Colonel  Hinkie 
proved  to  be  a  traitor  to  the  church.  He  is  worse  than 
Hull  who  betrayed  the  army  at  Detroit.  He  decoyed 
us  unawares.  God  reward  him.  John  Corrill  told 


1838J  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  275 

General  Wilson  ttyat  he  was  going  to  leave  the  church. 
General  Wilson  says  he  thinks  much  less  of  him  now 
than  before.  Why  I  mention  this  is  to  have  you  care- 
ful not  to  trust  them.  If  we  are  permitted  to  stay 
any  time  here  we  have  obtained  a  promise  that  we  may 
have  our  families  brought  to  us.  What  God  may  do 
for  us  I  do  not  know,  but  I  hope  for  the  best  always 
in  all  circumstances.  Although  I  go  unto  death  I 
will  trust  in  God.  What  outrages  may  be  committed 
by  the  mob  I  know  not,  but  expect  there  will  be  but 
little  or  no  restraint.  Oh!  may  God  have  mercy  on  us. 
"When  we  arrived  at  the  river  last  night  an  express 
came  to  General  Wilson  from  General  Clark,  of 
Howard  County,  claiming  the  right  of  command, 
ordering  us  back,  where  or  what  place,  God  only 
knows;  and  there  are  some  feelings  between  the  offi- 
cers. I  do  not  know  where  it  will  end.  It  is  said  by 
some  that  General  Clark  is  determined  to  exterminate. 
God  has  spared  some  of  us  thus  far.  Perhaps  he  will 
extend  mercy  in  some  degree  toward  us  yet.  Some  of 
the  people  of  this  place  have  told  me  that  some  of  the 
Mormons  may  settle  in  this  county  as  other  men  do. 
I  have  some  hopes  that  something  may  turn  out  for 
good  to  the  afflicted  Saints.  I  want  you  to  stay  where 
you  are  until  you  hear  from  me  again.  I  may  send 
for  you  to  bring  you  to  me.  I  can  not  learn  much  for 
certainty  in  the  situation  that  I  am  in,  and  can  only 
pray  for  deliverance  until  it  is  meted  out,  and  take 
everything  as  it  comes  with  patience  and  fortitude. 


276  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1838 

I  hope  you  will  be  faithful  and  true  to  every  trust.  I 
can't  write  much  in  my  situation.  Conduct  all  matters 
as  your  circumstances  and  necessities  require.  May 
God  give  you  wisdom  and  prudence  and  sobriety, 
which  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  he  will.  Those 
little  children  are  subjects  of  my  meditation  continu- 
ally. Tell  them  that  father  is  yet  alive.  God  grant 
that  he  may  see  them  again.  Oh!  Emma,  for  God's 
sake  do  not  forsake  me  nor  the  truth,  but  remember 
me.  If  I  do  not  meet  you  again  in  this  life — may  God 
grant  that  we  may — may  we  meet  in  heaven.  I  can 
not  express  my  feelings;  my  heart  is  full.  Farewell, 
O  my  kind  and  affectionate  Emma.  I  am  yours  for 
ever,  your  husband  and  true  friend, 

"JOSEPH  SMITH,  JR." 


1838]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  61. 

The  Last  Days  in  Far  West. 

IT  WAS  the  day  Joseph  Smith  wrote  this  letter,  sit- 
ting in  prison  in  Independence,  that  General  Clark 
arrived  at  Far  West  and  took  command  of  the  army. 
On  Tuesday,  the  sixth  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1838,  he  had  the  people  come  to  the  ciTrlf's1  speech, 
square  at  Far  West,  and  he  made  a 
speech.  He  allowed  some  of  the  men  to  go  to  their 
families  and  get  corn  and  wood  for  them,  and  told 
them  that  they  would  never  see  the  faces  of  their  lead- 
ers again,  never,  never.  He  gave  them  no  hope  and 
no  sympathy.  The  soldiers  made  men  sign  away 
their  homes,  holding  gun  or  sword  ready  to  kill  them 
if  they  did  not  do  just  as  they  commanded  them. 

At  Adam-ondi-Ahman,  there  was  a  guard  around 
the  town,  and  the  "Mormon"  men  had  to  give  up  what- 
ever the  soldiers  demanded.  Then  the  general  in 
charge,  Robert  Wilson,  ordered  every  family  to  leave 
town  in  ten  days.  They  could  go  to  C  aid  well  County 
for  the  winter,  but  no  longer  than  the  winter  months 
could  they  stay  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  They  could 
not  take  their  own  cattle  or  horses  unless  the  com- 
mittee of  Missourians  agreed  to  it.  There  were  a  few 
men  in  upper  Missouri  who  tried  to  make  some  plan 
to  help  the  persecuted  and  terrified  "Mormons,"  or 
"Saints,"  but  there  was  a  warlike,  war-loving  people 


278  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1838 

in  Missouri,  roughened  by  Indian  wars  and  pioneer 
living. 

These  men  of  war  were  the  leading  spirits  of  the 
State;  from  among  them  the  people  chose  their  fa- 
vorites to  stand  for  them  in  making  and 
Spirits.8  keeping  state  laws ;  and  so  the  fighting 

spirit  ruled,  from  the  governor  to  the 
half  savage  land  grabbers  in  upper  Missouri,  or  the 
rough  men  called  border  men  and  bee  men  who  always 
lived  on  the  edge  of  the  civilized  places,  where  they 
could  easier  get  away  from  law.  So  the  chance  for 
peace-loving,  God-fearing  men  was  poor,  and  espe- 
cially where,  as  often  happens  in  large  societies,  there 
were  traitors  arid  false  brethren  among  them. 

Among  the  men  who  had  given  the  church  trouble 
was  one  named  Doctor  Sampson  Avard.  A  man  of 
considerable  importance  in  his  own 
Mtterreifemyd  mind>  he  wanted  to  be  the  church  leader. 
He  had  formed  a  secret  society,  and 
told  the  members  of  it  that  he  was  appointed  by  the 
church  to  form  them  into  a  band.  When  the  men  dis- 
covered that  his  plan  was  to  go  up  and  down  the 
"border"  of  the  State  and  take  things  from  the  Gen- 
tiles and  kill  those  who  opposed  them,  they  very 
quickly  left  him.  The  man  was  a  smooth  talker,  and 
full  of  flattery.  He  was  going  to  call  his  band  Dan- 
ites. 

But  the  church  discovered  his  plans  and  then  he 
joined  the  mob  and  pretended  to  know  many  impor- 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  279 

tant  things  (unthought  of  by  the  churchmen),  but 
told  them  as  truth.  When  the  mob  needed  a  witness 
for  anything^  they  called  on  this  man.  Avard  was 
ready,  for  he  was  angered  at  the  church.  He  said  he 
intended  to  swear  against  them  in  court  "and  swear 
hard"  and  he  did  so.  He  was  cut  off  from  the  church 
in  Quincy,  Illinois,  the  next  spring. 

All  of  the  action  of  the  army  of  Missouri  under 
Generals  Lucas  and  Clark  was  not  lawful.    They  had 
no  right  to  do  the  things  they  did.    The  statesmen  in 
the  legislature  voted  to  give  two  thousand  dollars  to 
help  the  poor  and  suffering  families  in 
Caldwell  and  Daviess  counties,  but  the     £°  f^ 
"Mormons"   received   none   of   it,   the 
Gentiles  getting  all  the  benefit.     The  same  body  of 
lawmakers,  in  their  meeting  at  the  capital  in  Decem- 
ber, 1838,  ordered  that  all  the  papers  and  letters  and 
everything  about  the  "Mormon"  trouble  should  not  be 
copied  or  printed.    But  two  years  later,  this  law  was 
taken  away.      (Many  of  these  things  you  can  read 
more  about  in  the  History  of  Livingston  and  Cald- 
well Counties.) 

It  was  useless  to  ask  the  lawmakers  of  the  State 
to  help  them,  but  the  Saints  did  it.  Following  are  the 
names  signing  the  petition: 

Edward  Partridge,  Theodore  Turley,  George  W. 
Harris,  Heber  C.  Kimball,  Brigham  Young,  John 
Murdock,  John  Taylor,  Isaac  Morley,  John  M.  Burk. 

December   16,   1838,   Joseph   Smith  wrote  to  the 


280  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

Saints  in  Far  West,  He  was  still  in  prison,  but  he 
begged  the  Saints  to  be  honest  and  kind,  and  never 
to  swear  nor  get  drunk,  but  to  be  righteous,  honorable 
people ;  and  he  prayed  they  would  keep  the  faith. 

The  Far  West  Saints  held  their  meetings  and  tried 

to  keep  up  their  courage.     On  the  nineteenth  day  of 

December,  1838,  Brigham  Young  and  H.  C.  Kimball 

ordained  John  E.  Page  and  John  Taylor  apostles. 

Elder  David  H.  Redfield  traveled  up  to  the  state 

capital  with  the  petition.     He  handed  it  to  General 

D.  R.  Atchison,  who  was  a  Missouri 

petition!  statesman  as  well  as  a  Missouri  general. 

Elder  Redfield   also  had   a  talk  with 

Governor  Boggs,  and  made  a  personal  appeal  to  him 

to  save  the  Saints  from  this  unlawful  treatment,  and 

save  the  State  from  the  stain  and  shame  of  that  which 

was  being  put  upon  her  for  ever.    But  the  statesmen 

of  Missouri  were  not  braver  and  more  just  than  her 

soldiers,  and  the  petition  was  laid  on  the  table. 

In  telling  of  the  action  of  these  statesmen,  we  must 
not  forget  the  men  who  stood  by  the  Saints.    Promi- 
nent among  them  was  General  D.  R. 
Just  men. 

Atchison,  the  representative  from  Clay 
County,  with  him  all  the  committee  from  Saint  Louis, 
and  Rollins  and  Gordon  from  Boone  County. 

It  took  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  state 
money  to  pay  the  soldiers  for  their  part  in  driving 
twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  men,  women,  and  children 
from  their  homes  in  the  cold  winter  of  1838  and  1839, 


1838]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  281 

without  protection  or  help  from  the  State.  But  not 
all  left  Far  West  on  that  long,  hard  journey.  In 
the  old  graveyard,  about  one  half  mile 
west  of  the  now  deserted  city  of  Far 
West,  many  beloved  forms  were  left 
asleep.  Sickness,  brought  on  by  lack  of  food,  and 
exposure  to  cold  and  hardship  had  killed  many,  for 
historians  tell  us  that  between  two  and  three  hundred 
graves  were  left.  Many  of  them  were  marked  by 
stones  with  the  names  cut  into  them ;  but  the  man  who 
got  the  farm  joining  the  graveyard  had  all  the  stones 
removed  and  used  them  for  other  purposes.  He  then 
plowed  the  graveyard  and  planted  it,  along  with  his 
other  fields.  After  the  place  was  plowed,  one  could 
look  across  the  hills  and  see  distinctly  every  grave  in 
the  different  color  of  the  soil.  This  heartless  treat- 
ment of  the  place  of  the  dead  Saints  seems  but  a  part 
of  the  unholy  treatment  of  the  Saints  from  the  time 
they  began  to  get  comfortable  and  pleasant  homes  in 
Jackson  County  until  they  left  Far  West. 

The  Christmas  of  1838  was  the  saddest  that  the 
church  had  yet  seen.  Some  of  its  leaders  were  in 
jail.  A  few  had  turned  against  the 
church  and  were  working  against  it  in 
every  possible  way.  The  Saints  were 
poor  and  destitute.  Some  were  moving  out  of  the 
State,  and  some  helpless  and  hopeless  were  waiting 
the  help  promised  by  the  State.  Far  West  was  a  sad 
and  stricken  city,  and  the  mobs  were  still  beating  and 


282  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  1 1838 

driving  all  whom  they  could  find  unprotected  by 
brethren,  although  the  soldiers  were  not  gathered  in 
forces  now  as  they  were  a  few  months  before. 


I83H|  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  283 


CHAPTER  62. 

The  Missouri  Prisoners. 

THE  STORY  of  the  Missouri  prisoners  is  one  that 
every  boy  and  girl  should  read.  These  were  not  prop- 
erly prisoners  of  war,  for  they  were  a  part  of  the 
State,  and  strong  friends  of  law,  and  believed  in  the 
rights  of  the  Government,  and  were  not  soldiers.  Yet 
they  were  under  military  guard,  and  were  tried  by 
military  courts  three  different  times,  and  each  time 
sentenced  to  be  shot.  After  they  left  Far  West,  they 
crossed  the  prairie  into  Jackson  County. 

They  traveled,  some  of  them  in  a  covered  wagon, 
and  were  treated  quite  well  by  some  of  their  guards, 
and  by  some  they  were  shamefully  per- 
secuted. In  Jackson  County  they  were  ^gospel.  te" 
made  a  sort  of  show,  and  people  looked 
at  them  curiously,  as  we  look  at  strange  animals ;  but 
they  often  found  opportunity  to  tell  about  the  "angel's 
message."  You  know  what  that  meant  to  the  Saints, 
and  sometimes  they  preached  in  a  quiet  way.  They 
did  not  stay  long  in  Jackson  County,  for  Colonel 
Sterling  Price,  a  man  well  known  in  Southern  history, 
acting  under  the  orders  of  General  Clark,  commanded 
the  prisoners  to  be  taken  to  Richmond,  Ray  County. 

They  started  with  only  three  soldiers  on  guard,  and 
the  guards  got  drunk,  and  this  made  it  more  danger- 
ous than  before,  for  the  country  had  many  savage  and 


284  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1888 

desperate  men  eager  to  kill  these  prisoners,  and  under 
the  law  the  officers  were  responsible  for  their  lives. 
Some  of  these  lawless  men  they  met,  but  by  sending  to 

Richmond  for  help  they  reached  that 
abused^'  place  in  safety.  Here  the  prisoners 

were  chained  together  and  put  in  an  old 
house  with  guards  night  and  day,  and  under  Colonel 
Price  they  were  allowed  to  be  abused,  deliberately  and 
brutally. 

After  a  one-sided  trial,  part  of  the  prisoners  were 
allowed  to  go,  but  some  were  put  back  into  prison  to 
again  be  tried  for  treason  and  murder.  The  treason 
charge  was  because  the  Diahman  boys  run  the  mob  out 
of  Daviess  County,  and  finding  their  cannon  buried  in 
the  earth,  they  dug  it  out  and  carried  it  off.  The 
murder  was  for  the  man  killed  in  the  Crooked  River 
or  Bogart  fight.  Some  of  the  prisoners  knew  nothing 
of  these  things  until  after  they  were 

fernent°jadii^  done'  but  P-  P-  Pratt»  Morris  Phelps, 

Luman  Gibbs,  Darwin  Chase,  and  Nor- 
man Shearer  were  put  into  the  Richmond  jail,  and 
Lyman  Wight,  Caleb  Baldwin,  Hyrum  Smith,  Alex- 
ander McRae,  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  Joseph  Smith  were 
sent  under  guard  to  Liberty,  Clay  County,  Missouri. 
A  mittimus  or  reason  for  this,  written  by  Judge 
King,  was  handed  to  the  jailer  in  Liberty.  This  mit- 
timus gave  as  a  reason  for  sending  them  out  of  Daviess 
and  Caldwell  counties,  where  it  was  claimed  they  had 
committed  the  offenses,  that  these  counties  had  no 


1938] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


285 


Liberty  Jail  in  1838. 


jails  in  them.  While  in  Independence,  the  prisoners 
had  gone  quite  freely  about  the  town,  visiting  the 
Temple  Lot  from  which  the  finest  timber  had  been 
cut,  and  dining  out  several  times ;  but  at  Richmond, 
only  about  thirty  miles  from  there,  they  were  chained 
and  had  very  poor  food 
and  beds.  Those  who 
went  to  Liberty  received 
neither  kindness  nor  jus- 
tice. 

A  committee  of  two 
was  appointed  by  the 
Saints  to  carry  mail  to 
and  from  the  men  in  jail, 
and  sometimes  the  wives 

and  children  of  the  prisoners  were  permitted  to  visit 
them,  but  always  with  a  guard  of  armed  men  present. 
While  in  Richmond,  Sidney  Rigdon  had  been  very  ill 
of  fever.  As  he  lay  chained  to  his  son-in-law,  George 
W.  Robinson,  he  grieved  because  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ters were  without  brother,  husband,  or  father  to  pro- 
tect them. 

His  mind  went  back  no  doubt  to  the  time  when  that 
dear  wife  bravely  gave  up  honor,  riches,  and  friends 
to  go  with  him  into  a  church  that  was  poor  and  de- 
spised. Because  she  believed  it  was  right  she  did  this, 
and  now  he  was  ill  and  a  prisoner,  and  she  and  her 
children  persecuted  and  poor.  His  daughter,  Mrs. 
Robinson,  with  her  little  baby  came  to  the  prison  and 


286 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


nursed  her  father,  enduring  insults  and  cold  and 
hunger  without  complaint,  and  never  leaving  him  un- 
til he  was  well  of  the 
fever. 

The  winter  was  pass- 
ing in  Far  West,  and  a 
committee  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  arrange  for 
the  moving  of  the 
Saints.  Charles  Bird 
was  sent  on  to  buy  corn 
and  store  it  at  different 
places  along  the  way, 
and  also  to  prepare  for 
crossing  the  rivers. 
This  was  done  in  those 
times  either  by  ford 
(driving  through),  or  ferry  (going  over  in  boats). 

The  prisoners  still  lay  in  jail.  The  Liberty  jail 
was  not  a  comfortable  place.  It  was  built  of  stone, 
the  walls  thick  and  solid,  and  was  poorly  lighted  and 
poorly  heated.  It  stood  on  the  hillside,  overlooking 
a  beautiful  country,  rolling  hills  with  timber  and  prai- 
rie changing  the  scene. 

It  was  well  known  that  Alexander  Doniphan  was 
still  the  lawyer  and  friend  of  these  men.  Once  Hyrum 
Smith  received  a  letter  telling  of  the  suffering  and 
distress  of  his  family,  and  he  was  like  a  caged  lion, 
something  most  unusual  for  this  mild  and  pacific 


1839]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

spirit.  He  tried  to  escape,  but  was  not  successful, 
Lyman  Wight  tells  of  trying  to  let  themselves  out  by 
making  a  way  through,  other  than  the  door,  but  the 
place  was  discovered  and  an  extra  guard  of  ten  put 
around  them. 


288  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 


CHAPTER  63. 

The  Prisoners  Free. 

ON  THE  thirtieth  day  of  January,  1839,  Sidney  Rig- 
don  was  released  from  jail  after  giving  bail,  but  the 
rest  were  not  allowed  bail.  Judge  King  had  said  that 
he  had  nothing  against  Hyrum  Smith,  only  he  was  a 
friend  to  "Joe  Smith";  and  Judge  Turnham,  before 
whom  they  were  tried  in  Clay  County,  told  General 
Doniphan  that  he  "did  not  think  the  men  guilty  of 
treason,  but  was  afraid  to  offend  Judge  King,"  so 
he  ordered  them  back  to  jail,  and  the  time  went  by 
drearily. 

Those  prisoners  who  were  with  Parley  P.  Pratt  had 
been  removed  to  Boone  County,  to  the  town  of  Colum- 
bia, and  suffered  from  hunger,  thirst,  filth,  and  cold, 
and  were  kept  in  a  loathsome  dungeon  part  of  the 
time.  They  had  not  the  pleasure  of  seeing  friends  or 
getting  mail  often,  as  the  Liberty  jail  men;  but  to- 
wards spring,  Mr.  Phelps's  wife,  her  brother,  and 
Orson  Pratt,  who  rode  from  Illinois  and  Iowa  on 
horseback,  came  to  visit  these  men.  Luman  Gibbs 
swore  against  the  church,  so  he  got  his  liberty,  and 
King  Follet  was  set  free. 

Now  it  was  April  6,  1839,  and  the  "Liberty  pris- 
oners" were  to  celebrate  the  ninth  birthday  of  the 
church  by  starting  under  guard  for  Daviess  County, 
there  to  be  tried.  The  Liberty  guard  of  soldiers  left 


1839]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

them  about  a  mile  from  Gallatin,  in  the  hands  of  the 
sheriff  of  Daviess  County  and  a  guard  of  four  men. 
Although  the  guards  from  Liberty  went  Eighteen 
miles  out  of  their  way  to  keep  these  men  from  seeing 
their  homes  in  Far  West,  the  guards  went  back  that 
way  and  got  lost  and  caught  in  the  fence  and  had  to 
be  helped  out  and  cared  for  by  Elder  Stephen  Mark- 
ham. 

It  was  the  ninth  day  of  April,  ,1839,'  when  the  pris- 
oners were  tried  before  Judge  King  again,  and  he  was 
drunk  and  his  jury  was  drunk.  Elder 


Stephen  Markham  had  reached  the  pris-      j^*  drunk. 


oners  with  some  money  for  their  use  by 
this  time.    This  man  was  a  strong,  brave  man,  and  had 
often  proved  his  strength  and  daring.    This  time,  he 
swam    several    streams    full    of^  spring    floods,    and 
reached  the  prisoners  in  the  afternoon.     y       with 

What  a  visit  that  was  !  Since  Febru-  Stephen 
ary,  there  had  been  many  lonely  hours 
and  many  anxious  ones,  for  these  men  knew  that  there 
was  a  stream  of  wagons  moving  out  from  Far  West 
over  the  cold  prairies  and  across  the  frozen  country 
towrard  Illinois  and  Iowa.  They  knew  how  poor  the 
Saints  were,  how  hard  it  was  to  find  horses,  wagons, 
or  oxen,  and  how  scarce  the  food  supply,  and  they 
knew  also  the  bitter  hatred  of  the  Missourians  and  how 
they  respected  neither  age  nor  womankind  nor  little 
children,  and  so  they  had  many  things  to  hear  from 
this  Elder  Markham. 


29()  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 

At  the  trials,  Sampson  Avard,  the  Danite,  was  al- 
ways the  star  witness  against  these  Liberty  prisoners, 
so  he  appeared  at  Gallatin,  and  Judge  Morin  came 
over  from  Millport  (you  remember  the 
witness*."*  liitle  town) ,  and  he  was  in  favor  of  the 

prisoners  getting  away  from  the  per- 
secutions they  were  enduring,  and  Elder  Markham 
was  allowed  to  be  a  witness  for  the  prisoners.  This 
was  something  rare,  for  before  this  the  witnesses  had 
been  thrown  into  jail  and  not  allowed  to  tell  what  they 
knew  to  the  court. 

This  angered  the  guards,  who  were  just  some  of 
the  old  mob,  and  ten  of  them  rushed  onto  Elder  Mark- 
ham,  for  they  said  they  would  kill  him. 

Stephen  Mark-  J  J 

ham  and  the  He  took  the  club  away  from  the  leader, 
and  threw  it  away;  then,  with  the  court 
looking  on,  he  drove  the  ten  of  them  away.  They 
swore  vengeance,  but  early  next  morning  the  man 
Markham  was  far  away  toward  Far  West. 

It  was  the  fifteenth  day  of  April  when,  under  a 
guard  of  a  sheriff  and  four  men,  the  Liberty  prisoners 
were  started  for  Boone  County,  where  Parley  P. 
Pratt  and  his  friends  were  in  jail.  They  were  going 
to  be  tried  again,  you  see.  But  the  sheriff  and  guards 
got  drunk  on  whisky  and  honey.  The  sheriff  showed 
the  prisoners  the  mittimus  (or  paper  with  the  reason 
for  taking  them) ,  and  it  was  not  signed  with  any  name 
and  had  no  date.  He  said  Judge  Birch  told  him  not 
to  take  the  men  to  Boone  County. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  291 

"Now,"  said  he,  "I  shall  take  a  good  drink  of  grog 
and  go  to  bed;  you  may  do  as  you  have  a  mind  to." 
There  were  the  sheriff  and  three  guards  asleep.  The 
other  guard  helped  saddle  the  two  horses,  and  the 
Liberty  prisoners  started  for  Illinois,  having  bought 
a  horse  of  the  guard  for  money,  and  giving  their  note 
for  another.  Two  were  on  horseback,  three  on  foot; 
and  in  nine  or  ten  days  they  crossed  the 
Mississippi  into  Quincy  and  found  their 
families  there.  Had  they  gone  on  into 
Boone  County  they  might  have  found  the  Pratt  pris- 
oners still  in  jail. 


292  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 

CHAPTER  64. 

The  Exodus  from  Far  West. 

ALL  THROUGH  that  hard,  cold  winter  of  1838, 
wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  horses,  or  cows,  journeyed 
slowly  away  from  Far  West;  and  men,  women,  and 
little  children  traveled  with  heavy  hearts  and  aching 
feet,  the  way  to  Illinois.  Many  died  and  were  buried 
without  any  of  the  beautiful  attention  we  take  comfort 
in  giving  to  our  dead.  Sometimes  the 
casket?1*  bark  was  taken  from  a  large  tree,  and 

the  little  dead  child  laid  in  it,  and  an- 
other piece  of  bark  tied  over  it,  and  this  was  the  best 
burial  casket  any  of  them  knew. 

There  was  seldom  a  way  to  mark  the  graves,  or 
time  or  strength,  for  many  were  ill,  and  some  were 
wounded.  The  mobbers  had  taken  so  many  of  their 
horses  and  cattle  that  there  were  few  teams  to  move 
twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  people  from  Far  West. 
The  oxen  traveled  slowly,  and  the  roads  were  rough 

Sufferin  of  anc^  ^e  co^  intense-  The  people  living 
women  and  along  the  wray  were  not  often  willing  to 
let  them  stay  nights  in  their  houses  or 
to  sell  to  them  food  for  themselves  or  their  teams. 
Many  walked  across  the  frozen  rivers. 

Emma  Smith,  with  two  children  in  her  arms,  and 
two  walking  beside  her  holding  her  dress,  walked  over 
the  frozen  Mississippi  to  Quincy.  She  was  only  one 
woman  among  hundreds  who  suffered  these  hardships. 


1839]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  293 

The  small,  plain  little  house  they  had  lived  in  at  Far 
West  was  simple  and  bare,  but  it  was  warm  and  kept 
out  the  storms.  It  was  not  a  year  since  she  had  made 
the  long,  hard  journey  from  Ohio,  but  then  she  was 
with  her  husband. 

Now,  she  was  alone,  without  money,  and  had  learned 
that  not  all  brethren  were  to  be  trusted.  She  knew 
not  if  her  husband  were  alive  or  had  been  murdered 
with  his  brethren  in  Liberty  Jail,  where  last  she  had 
seen  them.  She  had  saved  a  few  things  from  the  hands 
of  the  Missourians,  among  them  the  sacred  manu- 
script of  the  Inspired  Translation  of  the  Scriptures. 
Guarding  these  and  her  children,  she  entered  Illinois 
and  found  a  shelter  in  the  home  of  a  man  named  Cleve- 
land. Some  of  the  men  owning  teams  went  back  to 
Far  West  the  third  time  that  winter,  and  by  spring 
the  "hills  of  hope"  in  upper  Missouri  were  left  to  the 
outlaws,  with  a  few  exceptions. 

Among  those  who  stayed  in  Missouri  were  the 
Whitmers.  None  of  them  left  Missouri ;  most  of  them 
left  the  church.  John  Whitmer  for  over  sixty  years 
owned  the  farm  in  C  aid  well  County,  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  which  were  the  public  square  and  temple  lot. 
Those  who  left  Missouri  must5  find 

„,,  A  new  friend. 

homes  somewhere  else.      I  here  was  a 
man  named  Isaac  Galland  who  owned  large  tracts  of 
land  in  Iowa.  He  wanted  to  sell  this  land  to  the  Saints, 
and  have  them  settle  in  Iowa, 

Across  the  river,  in  Illinois,  was  a  little  town  that 


294  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1839 

offered  the  Saints  a  chance,  named  Commerce.  All 
these  things  had  been  talked  over  and  written  in  let- 
ters to  the  prisoners,  and  they  had  counseled  the 
people  by  letter.  It  was  in  April  that  the  Liberty 
prisoners  reached  Quincy,  where  they  were  met  by  the 
most  of  the  Saints.  A  few  had  gone  to  other  places. 
There  were  meetings  held,  and  many  people  cut  off 
or  put  out  of  the  church,  among  them  such  men  as 
George  M.  Hinkle,  Sampson  Avard,  John  Corrill, 
Reed  Peck,  W.  W.  Phelps,  Frederick  G.  Williams, 
Thomas  B.  Marsh,  Burr  Riggs,  and  others. 

While  these  things  were  going  on  in  Quincy,  five  of 

the  Twelve  had  gone  up  to  Far  West  to  do  what  they 

believed  the  Lord  had  commanded  them 

neryistgon°ef  COr"  to  do-  TheY  held  a  meeting  very  early 
in  the  morning  of  April  26,  1839,  on  the 
temple  lot,  and  ordained  Wilford  Woodruff  and 
George  A.  Smith  apostles.  They  also  ordained  two 
seventies.  They  then  rolled  a  great  stone  onto  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  temple  site,  and  Elder  Al- 
pheus  Cutler  placed  it  in  position  and  they  blessed  it. 
You  will  remember  that  the  other  corner  stone  had 
been  placed  the  year  before;  and  the  work  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  was 
closed  in  Caldwell  County,  Missouri,  for  that  time. 
We  leave  it  now  and  move  on  with  our  story  to  the 
movements  of  these  men  of  the  Twelve  as  they  re- 
turned to  Quincy,  taking  some  families  with  them,  the 
mob  not  knowing  they  were  doing  these  things. 


1839]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


CHAPTER  65. 

The  Church  in  Illinois. 

WHEN  people  turn  against  the  church  they  are 
called  apostates,  and  are  no  longer  good  members, 
and  they  are  put  out  of  the  church.  So  many  were 
put  out  of  the  church  because  they  were  no  longer 
true  to  it. 

The  people  in  Quincy  agreed  to  treat  the  Saints 
kindly  and  give  them  work.  They  were  even  careful 
not  to  say  things  to  make  them  feel 
bad.  They  gave  money  to  feed  the 
poor  and  sick,  and  invited  the  church  to 
buy  property  and  settle  there.  But  fifty  miles  up  the 
river  they  found  a  cheap  tract  of  land  around  the  little 
village  of  Commerce,  Illinois. 

On  May  Day,  1839,  Joseph  Smith,  with  others  of 
the  committee,  bought  the  farm  of  Hugh  White  at 
that  place,  and  that  of  Isaac  Galland,  lying  west  of 
it.  There  were  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres  in 
the  White  farm,  but  much  of  it  was  low,  swampy  land, 
too  wet  for  even  a  team  to  travel  over.  These  farms 
cost  them  fourteen  thousand  dollars. 

Into  the  block  or  log  house  on  the  White  farm,  Jos- 
eph Smith  moved  his  family,  after  a  conference  held 
on  the  Presbyterian  camp  ground,  near  Quincy.  Two 
days  were  spent  in  this  conference,  and  you  would 
have  wept  to  hear  the  Saints  tell  of  their  suffering. 


296  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 

Some  of  the  leading  men  thought  it  better  to  settle 
separately  on  farms  or  in  towns,  and  not  try  to  make 

a  city  of  their  own,  but  most 
of  them  felt  like  trying  it 
again.  So  there  were  commit- 
tees appointed  to  buy  more 
lands  and  fix  up  the  papers. 
Great  care  was  taken  to  do 
things  according  to  law. 

Old  Blockhouse,  remodeled  While      the      people      W  6  T  C 

and   known    as    the   "Home-  -•  •  /> 

stead.»  eagerly  moving  onto  farms 

and  building  shops  and  mills, 

we  will  not  forget  the  prisoners  left  back  in  Boone 
County,  Missouri.  They  were  still  in  jail,  when  the 
Saints  w^ould  occasionally  hear  from  them. 

Commerce  had  one  stone  house,  two  block  houses, 
and  three  frame  houses  in  it  when  the  Saints  bought 
it,  and  the  log  house  that  Joseph  Smith  bought  of 
Hugh  White,  and  one  stone  house  were  the  only  ones 
near  it. 

Monday,  June  24,  1839,  the  Saint;s  bought  a  town 

called  Nashville,  just  across  and  further  down  the 

river  than  Commerce.    This  was  in  Lee 

lowa*  m  County,  Iowa,  and  there  were  t\venty 

thousand  acres   of  land  went  with  it. 

You  remember  Orson  Hyde  joined  with  Thomas 
B.  Marsh  back  in  Missouri  and  swore  to  lies  against 
the  Saints.  He  grew  sorry  about  his  wickedness,  and 
there  in  the  new  settlement  of  the  Saints  he  confessed 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


297 


First  house  in  Nauvoo. 


his  sin  and  made  many  promises  and  was  taken  back 
into  the  Quorum  of  Apostles.  Of  course  people  could 
not  trust  him  so  fully  as  before,  but  they  forgave  him ; 
but  always  and  always  people  thought  about  that 
wicked  thing  when  they  tried  to  trust  him.  A  man  can 

not   get   away   from   the     ^_________ 

things  he  has  done.  It 
was  June  27,  1839,  when 
he  made  this  confession 
at  the  conference  held  in 
Commerce. 

On  the  twenty-seventh 
day  of  the  month  of  June 
was  the  first  conference 
held  in  Commerce.  This 
date  we  can  not  forget,  for  five  years  later  it  be- 
came the  saddest  day  in  all  the  story  of  the  church. 
You  will  know  soon  the  reason  for  this.  But  now  we 
will  watch  the  growing  city;  and  recall  the  story  of 
the  people  in  it. 

Far  away,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  a  little 
German  settlement  called  Fayette,  this  church  was 

planned  after  the  pattern  that  Jesus 

.  .  Looking  back 

made  in  Palestine.  By  command  of  from  the  new 
God  to  its  people,  they  gathered  later 
to  the  hills  of  Ohio,  and  wonderful  were  the  things  the 
Lord  showed  to  them  in  the  village  of  Kirtland,  in 
their  Temple  built  by  love  and  labor  to  his  holy  name. 
"Westward"  was  the  slogan  of  the  world  in  those  days, 


29g  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 

and  it  moved  on  this  people,  and  they  sent  men  to  tell 
the  Indians  about  the  hidden  book  of  their  fathers,  and 
the  gospel  of  Jesus,  and  they  found  the  land  God  had 
told  them  about,  and  they  blessed  it,  and  gathered 
there  by  hundreds.  Xot  a  slave  went  with  them,  nor 
the  owner  of  a  slave. 

Beautiful  was  the  Zion  they  found  in  Missouri. 
Her  hills  were  waist  deep  with  grasses,  or  covered  with 
magnificent  timber.  Wild  fruits  were  abundant,  and 
wild  game  to  be  had  for  all.  Sometimes  the  strawber- 
ries grew  so  thick  that  the  camp  bed  was  stained  with 
red,  and  everything  was  prepared  for  them  to  enjoy. 
But  men  hated  them  because  they  were  wise  in  what 
they  believed,  and  wise  enough  to  buy  the  best  lands 
and  would  not  have  slaves,  and  believed  that  God 
spoke  to  them  through  a  prophet.  They  were  driven 
out  and  fled  to  the  bank  of  the  deep  and  treacherous 
Missouri  River,  and  many  died  and  all  suffered. 

Across  the  river  was  a  kind  people,  and  they  went 
over  and  lived  with  them  in  Clay  County  for  three 
years.  Then  the  wicked  ones  came  over  and  would 
have  made  war  on  Saints  and  Clay  County  men,  but 
they  counseled  with  these  friends  and  moved  away 
into  the  County  of  Ray  where,  through  the  efforts  of 
General  Doniphan,  the  state  lawmakers  measured  off 
two  new  counties  and  gave  the  Saints  one  while  the 
other  was  free  for  all.  This  was  Daviess  County. 
Their  own  county,  they  called  Caldwell. 

Happy  were  the  souls  that  hurried  to  make  homes 


1839J  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  299 

• 

there,  and  sing  to  God  and  worship  him.  The  spring 
was  glad,  the  summer  sweet  with  peace,  and  the  fall 
time  rich  with  what  seemed  to  them  a  gracious  harvest. 
But  the  old  enemies  from  Jackson  County  came  up 
here  and  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  rude  and  wicked 
in  other  counties,  and  they  marched  upon  them  by  day 
and  night,  in  the  field  or  in  the  home,  and  took  their 
leaders  prisoners,  and  whipped  and  frightened  and 
ruined  women  and  children,  and  killed  their  men. 
Nothing  escaped  them.  The  governor  ordered  his 
soldiers  to  shoot  the  Saints  if  they  did  not  leave  the 
State,  and  left  them  neither  horse  nor  ox  to  go  with. 
But  across  the  hills  of  Missouri,  staining  her  snows 
with  their  bleeding  feet,  the  exiles  went. 

Little  children  walked  miles  with  freezing  feet. 
Faint  from  hunger,  delicate  women,  cultured  and  re- 
fined, were  driven  like  brutes  through  the  storms. 
Mothers  waded  deep  rivers  with  a  child  on  each  hip; 
others  crossed  the  frozen  streams  with  their  little  ones 
clinging  to  them.  Aged  people  coughed  their  lives 
away,  as  they  journeyed,  wet,  cold,  hungry,  and  ill. 
All  along  that  route  Missouri  is  stained  and  scarred 
with  the  graves  that  mark  the  deadly  work  of  Gover- 
nor Boggs  and  his  demoniacal  hosts. 

Missouri,  beautiful  as  a  paradise,  rich  as  the  Indies, 
blessed  of  the  God  of  nature  with  every  desirable  op- 
portunity !  Thy  waters  are  singing  sweet  requiems  to 
the  Saints  whose  blessed  feet  touched  them.  Thy 
prairies  hold  for  ever  the  grand,  sweet  memory  of  the 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 

songs  they  sang  and  the  hopes  they  knew.  Ah!  in- 
justice can  not  rob  a  land  so  regenerated  by  the  blood 
of  the  innocent,  of  its  own  glorious  future,  when  it 
shall  be  the  center  from  which  shall  radiate  the  un- 
shadowed light  of  His  presence,  cur- 

On  the  bank  .         * 

of  the  Mis-         tamed  round  about  with  the  strongholds 
of  a  just  and  holy  people;  but  now  they 
rest  beside  the  wide,  deep,  swift  Mississippi,  exiled, 
poor,  and  ill. 

Nestling  at  the  foot  of  a  terraced  hill  lay  the  few 
houses  built  mostly  of  logs.  The  swamp  about  them 
was  lowr  and  wet.  The  summer  sun  shone  above  them, 

hot  and  ceaseless.  Hun- 
dreds were  living  in 
tents  or  wagons.  Some 
had  straggled  off  up 
the  hillside.  Across  the 
river  there  were  a  few 
old  buildings  where 

The  shores  of  Illinois  on  the  Missis-     Once  stood  the  old  fort 
sippi  River.  Qf     Des      Moines<        In 

these  were  refugees,  living  in  hope  of  something  bet- 
ter.   The  few  houses  were  soon  filled  with  the  sick. 

Leading  among  those  in  Commerce  who  stood  daily 
caring  for  them  was  Emma  Smith.  Her  little  son 
Joseph,  a  boy  of  six  years,  carrying  a  small  bucket  of 
water  in  his  hand,  moved  from  tent  to  tent,  and  to  the 
feverish  ones  under  the  rude  blanket  tent.  Sometimes 


1839]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

shelter  was  made  of  a  sheet  or  piece  of  carpet,  or  just  a 
woman's  skirt  or  man's  long  cloak  laid  above  sticks  to 
keep  off  the  sun.  The  lad  hurried  from  the  spring 
under  the  low  bank  to  and  fro,  sometimes  with  his  sis- 
ter Julia,  sometimes  with  other  small  boys,  until  the 
memory  stayed  for  ever  with  him  of  those  sick  and 
poor  in  old  Commerce. 


302  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 


CHAPTER  66. 

The  Last  Missouri  Prisoner  Finds  the  New  City. 

ONE  DAY  Parley  P.  Pratt  and  his  family  drove  into 
this  city  of  sick  and  poor,  and  camped  there  for  a 
while.  Happy  was  he  to  meet  his  friends  and  to  be 
able  to  be  out  in  the  air,  for  he  had  been  in  prison  for 
seven  months,  and  had  escaped  on  the  Fourth  of  July 
and  reached  Quincy  after  many  hardships  and  much 
trouble.  All  were  now  free  from  the  Missouri  jails. 

On  August  29,  1839,  Parley  P.  Pratt,  Orson  Pratt, 

and  Hiram  Clark  started  for  their  mission  in  England. 

They  left  Commerce  in  a  wagon,  and  in 

work°beghis.       September  others  of  the  Twelve  and 

Seventy  started  on  missions. 

The  people  grew  healthier  with  the  coming  of  cool 
weather.  They  were  getting  over  some  of  the  troubles 
that  had  come  to  them  because  they  had  been  cold  and 
hungry  and  afraid  so  much  of  the  time  in  Far  West. 
One  man  who  had  his  head  cut  by  the  mob  got  well, 
but  was  without  reason.  Another  man  that  the  mob 
had  shot  had  to  have  his  leg  amputated.  There  seems 
to  be  no  end  to  the  story  of  all  the  suffering,  and  there 
were  many  who  died. 

On  October  5,  1839,  there  was  a  conference,  and  the 
people  voted  to  make  Commerce  a  stake,  or  a  princi- 
pal city  of  the  church.  A  high  council  was  appointed, 
with  William  Marks  president.  You  met  him  back  in 


1839]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

Ohio  as  one  of  the  high  council  there.  Each  of  the 
council  accepted  the  appointment.  There  was  a  stake 
called  Zarahemla  over  the  river  in  Iowa  Territory 
then ;  John  Smith  was  president  of  it.  Don  C.  Smith, 
Orson  Hyde,  and  William  B.  Smith  were  continued  in 
the  same  place  held  by  them  before.  Many  letters 
were  read  from  the  ill  ones  who  could  not  be  there. 

That  very  day,  they  gave  a  very  important  work 
to  Judge  Higbee.  You  remember  the 
judge  that  did  what  General  Doniphan  Higfee's  work, 
ordered  and  called  the  Far  West  Volun- 
teers on  that  midnight  in  the  fall  of  1838,  and  sent 
them  under  Captain  "Fear  Not"  to  keep  Bogart  and 
his  band  of  mobbers  out  of  Far  West.  This  is, the 
judge  sent  now  to  President  Van  Buren  and  the  great 
lawmakers  at  Washington,  asking  them  to  give  the 
Saints  pay  for  the  lands  from  which  they  had  been 
driven  in  Missouri,  or  return  to  them  the  land  and  pay 
for  the  property  they  had  lost. 

Judge  Higbee  and  Joseph  Smith  were  appointed  on 
this  committee,  which  you  will  quickly  see  needed  men 
who  were  wise  and  educated,  as  well  as  faithful  to  the 
church.  While  reading  of  the  men  of  those  times,  we 
think  we  find  none  better  suited  for  this  errand  to  the 
Nation's  head,  than  the  men  chosen. 

This  October  conference  continued  for  several  days. 
They  voted  to  make  a  new  hymn  book,  and  leaving 
the  further  business  with  the  high  council,  the  con- 


304  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 


MRS.  EMMA  HALE  SMITH  IN  RIDING  HABIT. 
From  an  old  painting,  made  at  Nauvoo,  Illinois. 


1839]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  305 

ference  closed,  to  meet  again  on  the  church's  birthday, 

April  6,  1840.    The  High  Council  agreed  to  the  work 

of  the  conference,  and  voted  that  Emma 

Smith  select  and  publish  a  hymn  book     £f0k.hymn 

for  the  church.     Brigham  Young  had 

taken  a  number  of  new  hymns  with  him  on  his  mission 

to  England,  but  he  was  asked  to  send  them  back  that 

they  might  be  included  in  the  new  hymn  book.     The 

month  of  October  drew  to  a  close. 

There  had  been  another  one  added  to  the  committee 
to  Washington,  Sidney  Bigdon,  who  was  known  to 
Robert  Lucas,  governor  of  Iowa.  We  must  notice 
that  this  man  Lucas  is  in  no  way  connected  with  the 
wicked  General  Lucas  of  Missouri. 

Robert  Lucas  was  a  gentleman  and  a  statesman. 
His  record  is  that  of  a  clean  and  honorable  man,  im- 
portant in  the  history  of  Iowa.  He  had 
known  the  Saints  in  Ohio,  and  he  wrote  erf  Luca^" 
a  letter  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  Martin  Van  Buren,  telling  him  about  the 
Saints  being  law  keepers  and  an  industrious  people. 
He  introduced  Sidney  Rigdon  in  this  way  to  the  Presi- 
dent. This  letter  was  written  on  April  22,  1839, 
before  any  committee  had  been  appointed  by  the 
church,  and  is  on  file  in  the  Library  of  Congres.8, 
among  the  papers  of  President  Van  Buren. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  October,  the  High 
Council  signed  the  papers,  showing  that  these  three 
then  stood  for  the  church  and  wanted  Congress  to  in- 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1839 

vestigate  the  trouble  in  Missouri  and  do  something  fair 
and  just  toward  making  it  right.  On  the  twenty-ninth, 
these  three  delegates  started,  O.  P.  Rockwell  with 
them,  driving  the  carriage.  There  was  not  then  and 
never  has  been  a  railroad  or  street  car  in  Nauvoo,  then 
the  village  of  Commerce.  So  these  men  traveled  in  a 
two-horse  carriage.  Elder  Rigdon  was  ill,  and  that 
delayed  them.  Doctor  R.  D.  Foster  joined  them  on 
the  first  of  November  and  went  with  them  to  give 
medical  care  to  Elder  Rigdon,  but  by  the  ninth  they 
were  only  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  then  they  had  to 
leave  the  sick  man;  but  Sidney  Rigdon  wrote  a  letter, 
sending  it  with  Joseph  Smith,  introducing  him  and 
Elias  Higbee  to  the  President.  This  letter  is  also  pre- 
served in  the  Library  of  Congress  at  Washington. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  November,  President  Joseph 
Smith  and  Judge  Higbee  left  the  carriage  and  hur- 
ried on  to  Washington,  for  it  was  near  time  for  Con- 
gress to  meet.  It  was  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  No- 
vember, just  one  month  from  appointment,  that  they 
reached  Washington.  They  counseled  with  the  men 
there,  visited  the  President,  "a  small,  fat  man  with 
sandy  complexion,  solemn  looking  face  and  frowning 
brows."  He  was  not  very  pleasant  to  them,  and  when 
they  urged  him  to  do  something  for  the 
poor  people  of  the  Saints,  and  told  him 
how  they  had  suffered  and  needed  the  things  that  he 
alone  could  help  them  get,  he  said:  "Gentlemen,  your 
cause  is  just,  but  I  can  do  nothing  for  you."  There  was 


1839  j  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

still  hope  that  the  "House"  or  "Senate"  would  help 
them.  So  Joseph  Smith,  Doctor  Foster,  and  Porter 
Rockwell  took  stage  back  home,  and  our  faithful 
Judge  Higbee  stayed  in  Washington  to  urge  his  case. 
Some  of  the  men  of  the  church,  when  trusted  with 
important  things  among  the  leading  men  of  the  world, 
were  not  true  to  their  mission.  They  did  not  keep 
faith  with  the  church.  We  will  watch  our  judge,  and 
see  if  he  is  true.  How  sad  if  he  should  not  be ! 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1840 


CHAPTER  67. 

The  Village  of  Commerce  Changed  to  Nauvoo. 

IT  WAS  1840  now,  and  February  had  come,  with  its 
storms  and  dreary  days.  February  20,  the  "Mormon" 
trouble  came  up,  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
Washington,  and  Judge  Higbee  met  the  committee 
appointed  to  look  after  the  matter.  The  men  who 
stood  for  Missouri  both  in  the  House  and  the  Senate 
were  invited  to  meet  with  the  committee.  Judge  Hig- 
bee spoke  for  one  hour  and  a  half  before  the  com- 
mittee, telling  them  the  story  of  the  Saints  in  Missouri, 
and  asking  for  help.  He  wrote  very  humbly  to  the 
Saints  of  this  meeting.  He  had  to  meet  the  misrep- 
resentations of  Judge  King,  their  old 
foe  in  Missouri;  for  the  Missouri  men 
had  his  story  to  tell,  and  the  work  of 
Elder  John  Corrill,  the  man  who  represented  or  stood 
for  Caldwell  County  and  turned  against  it,  was  told. 

The  judge  spent  three  days  with  the  committee, 
and  was  brave  and  courageous,  as  well  as  reasonable 
in  his  conduct.  On  March  23,  1840,  the  Senate  dis- 
charged the  committee,  and  Judge  Higbee  received 
back  his  papers  and  prepared  to  go  to  Commerce. 

Joseph  Smith  had  reached  that  village  March  4, 
traveling  most  of  the  way  horseback.  He  was  sad, 
indeed,  to  find  that  his  clerk  or  secretary,  James  Mul- 
holland,  had  died  on  November  3,  soon  after  the  peti- 


1840]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

tion  party  had  started  for  Washington.  He  was  a 
finely  educated  man  and  faithful  elder.  In  his  honor 
one  of  the  streets  of  the  new  city  of  Nauvoo  was  after- 
wards named  Mulholland,  and  is  now  the  principal 
street  in  tke  old  town. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  April,  1840,  at  their  general 
conference,  the  Saints  were  told  of  the  effort  made  by 
the  petition  committee  and  the  kindness 
of  Governor  Carlin,  of  Illinois,  and  also     ernors*  S°V" 
Governor  Lucas,  of  Iowa,  and  of  the 
Illinois  lawmakers  who  were  bold  and  noble  in  stand- 
ing for  the  Saints  in  the  high  place  of  the  Nation  in 
Washington.  Then  they  listened  to  the  story  of  the 
failure  of  all  these  agents  or  men  to  get  even  kindness 
from  the  men  called  the  greatest  in  the  Nation. 

We  will  now  go  back  to  the  busy  people  of  Com- 
merce during  those  months  of  November,  December, 
January,  and  February.  Parley  P.  Pratt  had  written 
a  long  letter-  from  New  York.  He  was  busy  preach- 
ing and  writing  for  the  hundreds  of  Saints  in  the 
East  to  the  Saints  in  Commerce. 

In  November,   1839,  the  new  paper,   Times  and 
Seasons,  was  sent  out  to  the  world.     The  paper  was 
conducted    by    Smith    and    Robinson. 
That  meant  Don  C.  Smith,  the  young     New  paper, 
president  of  the  High  Priests'  Quorum, 
and  Ebenezer  Robinson.     It  was  to  be  printed  every 
month.     This  paper  the  church  still  uses  to  learn  of 
those  old  times. 


1840]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

Early  in  March  there  had  been  a  meeting  of  the 
Iowa  High  Council  in  the  old  fort  across  from  Nau- 
voo,  for  some  of  the  Saints  still  lived  there. 

When  the  sixth  day  of  April,  1840,  came,  there  was 
the  usual  conference.  You  will  remember  we  told  you 
about  the  report  of  our  committee  to  Washington, 
made  April  8,  in  the  story  about  the  judge.  On  the 
sixth  it  was  voted  to  send  Orson  Hyde  to  Palestine. 
A  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  look  after  those 
who  wanted  to  be  ordained  to  the  ministry,  and  to 
ordain  those  who  were  really  worthy.  The  Presidency 
of  the  church  was  selling  town  lots  for  the  church,  but 
they  needed  help  to  prepare  lots  for  the  poor.  The 
people  were  told  to  settle  in  Iowa  or  wherever  the 
Spirit  might  lead  them. 

John  E.  Page  was  appointed  to  accompany  Orson 
Hyde  to  Palestine.  Then  Frederick  G.  Williams, 
who  was  at  one  time  one  of  the  Presi-  Frederick  G 
dency,  but  whose  place  Hyrum  Smith  Williams  asks 
now  held,  arose  in  the  stand  and  humbly 
asked  forgiveness  for  the  way  he  had  acted,  and  said 
he  was  determined  to  do  the  way  God  wanted  him  to 
do  in  the  future.  Hyrum  Smith  pleaded  with  the 
church  to  forgive  Elder  Williams  and  let  him  come 
back;  and  so  they  voted  together  to  let  him  be  a  mem- 
ber, but  that  did  not  mean  that  he  was  in  the  Presi- 
dency again. 

There  were  seventy-five  persons  baptized  at  this 
conference,  and  fifty  had  been  received  into  the  Quo- 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1840 

rum  of  Seventy.  The  Mississippi  was  a  beautiful  place 
for  baptism  then.  The  waters  were  clear  and  pure. 
Xo  filthy  sewers  had  been  turned  into  them,  and  the 
shore  was  clean  and  smooth.  Some  of  those  baptized 
were  children,  and  some  were  older  people. 

It  was  April  15  when  Elder  Hyde  left  for  Palestine. 
He  had  to  bear  the  memory  of  that  wicked  work  that 
he  did  in  Missouri,  although  he  was  intrusted  with  a 
great  mission. 

The  Saints  had  written  to  the  Senator  from  Illinois, 
Honorable  Richard  M.  Young,  at  Washington,  ask- 
ing him  to  have  George  W.  Robinson 
(Sidney  Rigdon's  son-in-law)  made 
postmaster  of  Commerce.  Mr.  Young 
(a  friend  of  the  Saints,)  wrote  to  Elias  Higbee  on 
April  22,  1840,  that  the  request  had  been  granted,  and 
Mr.  Robinson  appointed  postmaster.  The  letter  goes 
on  to  say  that  Doctor  Isaac  Galland  (the  man  who 
sold  them  so  much  land  in  Iowa),  had  sent  a  letter 
along  with  other  papers,  asking  the  man  who  had 
the  power  to  change  the  name  of  the  post  office  to 
Nauvoo.  This  he  said  was  a  Hebrew  term,  and  meant 
a  beautiful  place.  This  was  also  done, — if  the  leaders 
at  Commerce  did  not  agree  to  it,  they  would  change  it 
back  to  Commerce.  The  mail  was  carried  on  horse- 
back twice  a  week  from  Carthage  to  Nauvoo  after 
that.  The  notice  to  Senator  Young  about  the  name 
Nauvoo  was  sent  on  to  Judge  Higbee.  It  read  like 
this: 


1840]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  3^3 

"WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  22,  1840. 

"Dear  Sir:  After  your  departure  from  this  city 
I  received,  under  cover  from  the  Reverend  Sidney 
Rigdon,  the  petition  mentioned  by  you  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  George  W.  Robinson  as  postmaster  at 
Commerce.  This  petition  I  laid  before  the  Honorable 
Robert  Johnstone,  Second  Assistant  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral, who  has  appointed  Mr.  Robinson  as  requested. 

"We  found  on  an  examination  of  the  papers  and  a 
letter  from  Doctor  Galland,  that  there  was  a  request 
that  the  name  of  the  post  office  should 
be  changed  to  that  of  Nauvoo,  a  He- 
brew  term,  signifying  a  beautiful  place. 
Mr.  Johnstone,  at  my  instance,  has  changed  the  name 
accordingly,  in  the  supposition  that  it  would  be  agree- 
able to  the  citizens  concerned.  Will  you  please  advise 
with  the  Reverend  Joseph  Smith  and  others  most  im- 
mediately interested,  and  if  the  change  of  the  name 
to  Nauvoo  should  not  be  acceptable,  it  can  on  applica- 
tion be  restored  to  that  of  Commerce. 

"I  received  a  letter  from  Malcom  McGregor,  Esq., 
postmaster  at  Carthage,  a  few  days  ago,  in  which  he 
urges  the  necessity  of  having  the  mail  carried  twice  a 
week  between  Carthage  and  Nauvoo,  and  expresses 
the  opinion  that  the  additional  expenses  would  not 
exceed  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  as  the  mail  is 
carried  on  horseback.  I  have  brought  the  subject  be- 
fore the  proper  department,  as  requested  by  Mr.  Mc- 
Gregor, and  hope  to  be  able  to  succeed;  although  the 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1840 

Post  Office  Department,  owing  to  pecuniary  embar- 
rassments, is  not  in  a  situation  to  extend  facilities  at 
the  present  time. 

"Please  present  my  respects  to  Mr.  Smith,  and  ac- 
cept for  yourself  my  kindest  regards. 

"Very  respectfully,  etc., 

"RICHARD  M.  YOUNG. 
"To  Judge  E.  Higbee." 


Spring  in  Nauvoo  is  like  a  dream. 

From  that  time  the  city  was  known  by  the  beauti- 
ful name  of  Nauvoo,  and  now  it  means  many  other 
things  to  the  church;  for  when  the  Saints  think  of  it, 
there  comes  a  crowd  of  things,  both  happy  and  sad, 
to  their  memory.  When  the  village  got  this  new  name, 
it  was  spring.  Spring  in  Nauvoo  is  like  a  dream. 
Already  many  homes  were  built  over  the  "flat."  Clear 


18401  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

up  the  hill  and  back  to  the  prairies  were  new  homes. 
Fruit  trees  and  shrubs  were  being  planted,  and  along 
the  newly  laid  out  streets,  shade  trees,  natives  of  the 
country,  were  being  set;  among  them  the  flowering 
locust  was  most  prominent.  Good  news  came  to  the 
people  of  the  gospel  in  other  places. 


316  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1840 

CHAPTER  68. 

W.  W.  Phelps  Returns  to  the  Church  in  Nauvoo. 

Over  in  Manchester,  England,  is  Parley  P.  Pratt, 

editing  a  paper  called  the  Millennial  Star,  the  first 

one  sent  out  in  May,  1840.  You  remember  he  was  a 

prisoner  in  the  jail  in  Columbia,  Mis- 

ipaand?r  in  Eng"  souri> until  the  fourth  day of  July> and 

did  not  reach  Commerce  until  late  in 
July ;  he  left  for  New  York  in  August,  and  was  busy 
in  the  East  until  the  last  of  November,  all  in  1839. 
Yet  here  he  is  sending  a  paper  out  from  the  old  city 
of  Manchester,  England,  in  May,  1840. 

But  there  were  sad  things,  too;  for  the  people  were 
still  ill  or  lame  or  otherwise  afflicted  because  of  the 

exposures  and  bad  treat- 
ment in  Missouri.  Among 
those  who  finally  gave  up 
their  lives  on  account  of 
these  things  was  the  first 
bishop  of  the  church,  Ed- 
ward Partridge,  on  May 
27,  1840.  You  will  re- 
member him  as  one  of 

The  old  cemetery  near  Nauvoo. 

those  six  who  offered  their 

lives  to  save  the  brethren  in  Independence,  Jackson 
County,  Missouri;  the  gentle,  pure-hearted  bishop 
from  far-away  Kirtland,  Ohio.  Somewhere  in  the  old 
"Mormon"  Cemetery,  near  Nauvoo,  his  body  is  await- 


1840]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

ing  a  glorious  resurrection.  He  was  a  rich  man  when 
he  joined  the  church,  December  11,  1830,  and  he  gave 
all  he  had  to  promote  the  church's  interests. 

Although  the  death  of  this  good  man  made  many 
hearts  sad,  it  may  have  worked  good  to  at  least  one 
man.    Among  the  six  men  who  offered 
themselves    a    ransom    for    the    other     SS£p.of  *"* 
Saints  in  Independence  away  back  in 
1833,  appear  side  by  side  the  names  of  Edward  Par- 
tridge and  W.  W.  Phelps.    When  Phelps  read  of  this 
dear  friend's  death,  his  thoughts  turned  back  to  the 
goodly  company  he  had  in  other  days  with  this  man. 
They  went  together  with  the  men  who  sought  for 
Zion  in  1831 ;  they  knelt  together  where 
the    Temple    Lot    was    blessed;    they 
helped  carry  that  first  log  for  the  first  house  in  Zion; 
they  suffered  together  the  insolence  and  afflictions  of 
the  mob,  and  together  fled  into  Clay  County. 

They  were  anointed  together  in  Kirtland,  and  to- 
gether returned  to  Zion.  They  helped  locate  Caldwell 
County,  and  together  made  the  first  prayer  on  this 
new  prairie  home  land.  Then,  W.  W.  Phelps  went 
down  with  the  fall  of  Far  West,  and  the  bishop  stayed 
true  to  his  trust.  No  wonder  the  heart  of  W.  W. 
Phelps  was  touched  when  he  wrote  that  letter  to  Jos- 
eph Smith,  which  we  shall  read  later. 

Joseph  Smith  wrote  that  on  June  1, 1840,  the  Saints 
had  built  two  hundred  and  fifty  houses,  mostly  block, 
and  some  frame.  June  has  been  a  noted  month  in 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1840 

Nauvoo  history.  It  was  on  June  6, 1840,  that  the  first 
company  of  English  Saints  started  from  Liverpool, 
England,  for  Nauvoo.  Elder  John  Moon  had  charge 
of  the  company. 

July  3,  1840,  the  President  of  the  church  asked  to 
be  released  from  the  committee  on  selling  lots.  He 
wanted  to  have  more  time  to  spend  with  the  spiritual 
things  of  the  church.  Some  one  else  took  his  place 
as  clerk  (H.  G.  Sherwood),  and  Alanson  Ripley,  the 
bishop  of  the  Iowa  stake,  was  appointed  to  give  an 
allowance  of  money  to  the  First  Presidency,  which 
meant  paying  the  clerks  too. 

On  July  4,  1840,  they  decided 'to  organize  a  stake 
at  Crooked  Creek,  Illinois.  In  the  meeting  of  the 
High  Council  at  Nauvoo,  July  11,  Joseph  Smith, 
President  of  the  church,  told  the  elders  many  things 
they  should  do,  good  things  for  anyone  to  do,  any- 
where. 

While  the  Saints  were  busy  building  their  city  and 
studying  how  to  help  each  other  and  mankind,  some 
men  came  over  from  Missouri  and  kid- 
Kidnaping,  naped  some  of  the  members  of  the 
church  and  carried  them  to  a  place 
called  Tully,  Missouri,  where  they  were  shut  up  in  a 
room  for  a  while,  and  some  of  them  tied  to  trees  and 
beaten  cruelly.  After  they  returned  to  Nauvoo,  the 
Saints  held  a  meeting.  From  this  meeting,  held  July 
13,  1840,  they  sent  a  petition  asking  Governor  Carlin 
to  protect  them,  for  they  were  afraid  that  the  Mis- 


1840]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

sourians  would  continue  in  their  wicked  work  against 
them. 

You  no  doubt  will  be  glad  to  meet  W.  W.  Phelps 
again,  even  if  he  did  act  the  traitor.     In  June,  1840, 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  Joseph  Smith.    He 
had  gone  from  Missouri,  and  was  in     p{?e\prs.from 
Dayton,  Ohio.    In  the  letter  he  writes: 
"I  have  done  wrong,  and  I  am  sorry.    I  ask  forgive- 
ness in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  all  the  Saints,  for 
I  will  do  right,  God  helping  me."     He  wanted  the 
Saints  to  help  him,  too.    Joseph  Smith  answered  this 
letter  on  July  22,  1840,  from  Nauvoo.    Among  other 
things  he  said : 

"It  is  true  that  we  have  suffered  much  in  conse- 
quence of  your  behavior — the  cup  of  gall,  already  full 
enough  for  mortals  to  drink,  was  indeed  filled  to  over- 
flowing when  you  turned  against  us.    One  with  whom 
we  had  oft  taken  sweet  counsel  together,  and  enjoyed 
many  refreshing  seasons  from  the  Lord — 'had  it  been 
an  enemy,  we  could  have  borne  it.'    'In  the  day  that 
thou  stoodest  on  the  other  side,   in  the  day  when 
strangers     carried    away    captive    his 
forces,  and  foreigners  entered  into  his        pheips.  * 
gates,  and  cast  lots  upon  Far  West, 
even  thou  wast  as  one  of  them;  but  thou  shouldst 
not  have  looked  on  the  day  of  thy  brother,  in  the  day 
that  he  became  a  stranger,  neither  shouldst  thou  have 
spoken  proudly  in  the  day  of  distress.' 

"However,  the  cup  has  been  drunk,  the  will  of  our- 


320  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1840 

Father  has  been  done,  and  we  are  yet  alive,  for  which 
we  thank  the  Lord.  And  having  been  delivered  from 
the  hands  of  wicked  men  by  the  mercy  of  our  God, 
we  say  it  is  your  privilege  to  be  delivered  from  the 
powers  of  the  Adversary,  be  brought  into  the  liberty 
of  God's  dear  children,  and  again  take  your  stand 
among  the  Saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  by  diligence, 
humility,  and  love  unfeigned,  commend  yourself  to 
our  God,  and  your  God,  and  to  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

"Believing  your  confession  to  be  real,  and  your 
repentance  genuine,  I  shall  be  happy  once  again  to 
give  you  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  and  rejoice  over 
the  returning  prodigal. 

"Your  letter  was  read  to  the  Saints  last  Sunday, 
and  an  expression  of  their  feeling  was  taken,  when  it 
was  unanimously 

"Resolved,  That  W.  W.  Phelps  should  be  received 
into  fellowship. 

'  'Come  on,  dear  brother,  since  the  war  is  past, 
For  friends  at  first,  are  friends  again  at  last.' 
"Yours  as  ever, 

"JOSEPH  SMITH,  JR." 

You  will  sometime  hear  the  name  of  John  C.  Ben- 
nett mentioned  with  the  history  of  Nauvoo,  and  in- 
deed it  belongs  in  Nauvoo's  history,  much  to  our 
shame  and  regret,  and  no  doubt  to  Nauvoo's  downfall. 
This  man  held  a  high  office  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 


1840]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  321 

In   1840,   he  began  writing  friendly  letters   to  the 
church  leaders.     He  was  a  flattering  and  charming 
writer,  and  finally  came  to  Nauvoo  and 
joined  himself  to  the  church.    He  tried     ££tn  C'  Ben' 
to  get  into  church  office,  but  never  held 
a  place  of  trust  more  than  that  of  elder.    But  he  was 
a  city  officer,  being  elected  mayor,  and  later  was  an 
officer  in  the  Nauvoo  legion.     ( That  is  something  new, 
isn't  it?    We  will  tell  about  it  soon.)     But  John  C. 
Bennett  was  proven  a  liar,  a  hypocrite,  and  a  fraud. 
So  when  his  name  is  mentioned  as  we  go  along,  you 
may  keep  a  watch  on  him.    The  people  did  not  know 
these  things,  so  they  treated  him  well. 

Do  you  recall  that  first  meeting  in  the  west  attic 
room  of  the  Temple  away  back  in  Kirtland,  Ohio,  in 
1836,  when  Joseph  Smith,  senior,  the 
gentle-natured,  big-bodied  father  of  the  %£  Patriarch 
Prophet,  was  ordained  Patriarch  of  the 
whole  church?  We  know  of  many  things  he  did  as 
the  years  went  by.  His  life  was  a  faithful,  busy, 
kindly  one,  as  he  traveled  with  the  church  to  Missouri, 
then  to  Illinois.  That  last  trip  was  hard,  indeed,  and 
he  became  ill  soon  after.  It  is  September  14,  1840, 
and  he  has  finished  his  work  and  closed  his  kind  eyes. 
He  blessed  his  children  a  few  moments  before  he  died, 
and  the  blessings  made  to  them  a  testimony  to  inspi- 
ration. He  blessed  the  children  of  Joseph  and  Wil- 
liam, some  of  them  not  yet  born,  but  the  children  of 
Samuel  and  Hyrum  he  did  not  mention. 


322  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1840 

That  was  over  seventy  years  ago,  and  to-day  we  find 
the  children  of  Samuel  and  Hyrum  with  the  church 
that  went  wrong;  but  the  children  of  the  other 
men  turned  not  away  from  the  truth  of  their  grand- 
father. 

The  next  day,  September  15,  Governor  Boggs,  of 
Missouri,  demanded  that  Governor  Carlin,  of  Illinois, 
Governor  arrest  Joseph  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon, 

Boggs  perse-  Lyman  Wight,  Parley  P.  Pratt,  Caleb 
Baldwin,  and  Alanson  Brown,  claiming 
that  they  were  men  who  were  hiding  from  the  law. 
This  wTas  hard  for  the  Prophet  and  his  brethren,  and 
very  grievous  to  their  mother  in  her  great  sorrow. 
The  sheriff  came  down  to  Nauvoo,  but  the  men  were 
none  of  them  arrested.  The  sheriff  went  back  and 
reported  them  all  out  of  the  city. 

The  October  conference  was  held  at  Nauvoo.    The 

Saints  had  some  of  them  moved  to  Iowa,  and  the 

church  prepared  to  stay  in  the  country 

New  stakes.  ,  ..  -,  n  n    /> 

wherever  it  was  pleasant  and  good  lor 
them.  So  a  committee  was  appointed  to  organize 
stakes  between  Nauvoo  and  Kirtland.  That  would 
make  it  very  pleasant,  and  be  a  good  chance  to  show 
the  people  what  their  religion  could  do  for  men  and 
women.  For  a  stake  is  a  city  or  town  or  village  with 
Saints  living  in  their  own  homes  in  it,  and  on  their 
farms  in  the  country  around  it.  It  means  that  they 
intend  to  stay  there  and  be  good  law  keepers  and 
workers  for  right,  and  true  and  loyal  to  the  Nation. 


1840]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  323 

So  this  was  important,  and  they  decided  to  build  "a 
house  of  the  Lord"  in  Nauvoo.     Reynolds  Cahoon, 
(you  knew  him  when  he  was  on  the 
Kirtland  Temple  committee,)   and  our     2ohueseLord'8 
good  Judge  Elias  Higbee,  and  Alpheus 
Cutler,  the  master  workman  at  that  corner  stone  scene 
in  Far  West.     These  were  the  committee  for  the 
Lord's  house. 


324  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1810 


CHAPTER  69. 

Nauvoo  Made  a  City. 

JOSEPH  SMITH,  John  C.  Bennett,  and  R.  B. 
Thompson  were  a  committee  to  ask  the  State  to  give 
them  a  charter  or  paper  showing  their  right  to  be  a 
city.  Doctor  J.  C.  Bennett  was  to  go  to  Springfield, 
the  capital  of  Illinois,  and  urge  the  lawmakers  to  give 
Nauvoo  the  right.  The  committees  went  right  to 
work  and  before  a  month  had  passed,  there  were  stakes 
organized  in  several  places. 

The  church  paper  was  still  published  in  Nauvoo, 
but  Don  C.  Smith  was  the  man  at  the  head,  for  Eben- 
ezer  Robinson  had  given  it  up.  It  was  winter  now  in 
Nauvoo,  but  the  people  were  in  houses  and  protected 
from  the  cold  and  storms. 

The  governor  signed  the  charter  for  the  city  on 

December  16,  1840.     Abraham  Lincoln  was  in  the 

legislature  of  Illinois  when  this  charter  was  given,  and 

Stephen   A.   Douglas   was   secretary   of    State   and 

signed  the  charter.     In  this  paper  the 

A  university.  -.  .  ,          .    ,  .  , 

people  are  given  the  right  to  have  a 
university  at  Nauvoo,  and  they  were  to  have  a  military 
order  or  company  of  men  armed  and  drilled  for  sol- 
diers, like  the  state  militia.  These  men  were  to  be 
called  the  Nauvoo  Legion.  They  were  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  city  and  State,  whenever  needed  by  them 


1840]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  325 

The  city  was  to  make  its  own  laws,  just  as  the  city  of 
Springfield,  Illinois,  made  its  city  laws. 

Nauvoo  was  very  busy  those  days,  getting  all  these 
things  ready  so  she  could  be  a  real  city. 

It  has  been  a  long  time  since  we  visited  England 
in  our  reading.  Let  us  leave  these  busy  builders  of 
the  city  of  Nauvoo,  for  there  are  three  thousand  peo- 
ple there  now,  and  see  what  has  been  going  on  among 
church  folk  in  England ;  for  soon  we  will  have  a  ship- 
load of  English  people  in  Nauvoo,  and  we  want  to 
know  something  about  the  place  from  which  they  are 
coming. 

While    the    church    had    suffered    persecution    in 
America,  the  people  in  England  had  also  been  wick- 
edly treated,  and  some  had  turned  away. 
On  Christmas  Day,  1839,  Elders  Alex- 
ander Wright  and  Samuel  Mulliner,  who  had  gone  to 
England  from  America,  moved  over  into  Scotland 
and  began  to  preach  and  baptize  in  Paisley  and  in  the 
country  near  it. 

When  Heber  C.  Kimball  and  Orson  Hyde  were  in 
England  two  years  before  this,  they  did  a  wonderful 
work,  but  the  enemies  of  the  church  told  the  Saints: 
4 'Oh,  they  will  never  come  back."    When  on  April  6, 
1840,  the  church's  tenth  birthday,  Elder 
Kimball    landed    with    others    of    the     England8. in 
Twelve  and  Seventy  in  Liverpool,  there 
was  much  joy  in  that  country.     There  were  seven  of 
the  Quorum  of  Twelve  in  England  now,  and  they 


326  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1840 

could  do  quorum  business.  Let  us  name  them:  Brig- 
ham  Young,  Heber  C.  Kimball,  Parley  P.  Pratt, 
Orson  Pratt,  Wilford  Woodruff,  George  A.  Smith, 
and  John  Taylor. 

They  were  without  money,  but  they  went  to  work 
with  the  Saints.  You  remember  we  had  heard  in  Nau- 
voo  about  the  new  paper,  the  Millennial  Star.  So  we 
know  what  Parley  P.  Pratt  was  busy  with  in  the  city 
of  Manchester.  It  was  April  14,  1840,  when  these 
seven  men  held  a  council  and  ordained  Elder  Willard 
Richards  an  apostle.  That  made  eight  of  the  apostles 
in  England,  and  only  three  in  America.  That  is, 
William  B.  Smith,  Orson  Hyde,  and  John  E.  Page. 
That  makes  eleven  in  all,  for  you  recall  the  death  of 
Captain  Patten  made  a  vacant  place  that  was  not  yet 
filled. 

At  this  council  in  England,  Brigham  Young  was 
chosen  standing  president  of  the  Twelve.  That  ap- 
pears strange,  does  it  not,  that  such  an 
important  matter  should  be  settled  by 
seven  men,  when  the  church  numbered 
thousands  in  America?  But  these  seven  men  were  not 
alone  in  this  matter  very  long,  for  on  January  19, 
1841,  a  long  revelation  was  given  to  Joseph  Smith 
in  Nauvoo.  In  that,  the  choice  of  Brigham  Young  is 
approved,  and  as  the  revelation  was  accepted  by  the 
church,  Brigham  Young  was  rightfully  president  of 
the  Twelve.  These  elders  in  England  did  preach  faith- 
fully for  a  time,  for  at  the  July,  1840,  conference  in 


1840]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  327 

Manchester,  there  were  about  six  hundred  and  fifty 
more  members  than  in  April.  Then  in  October,  three 
months  later,  they  had  thirteen  hundred  more  than  in 
July. 


328  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1840 


CHAPTER  70. 

A  Company    of  Saints  Arrive  from  England. 

BETWEEN  these  two  conferences,  a  shipload  of 
Saints  had  sailed  from  Liverpool,  England.  We  have 
read  about  Nauvoo,  and  know  what  kind  of  place  they 
are  going  to  now.  Elder  Theodore  Turley,  one  of 
the  Seventy,  had  charge  of  them.  He  had  come  to 
England  in  January,  1840,  so  his  stay  in  England 
was  short. 

There  was  one  other  foreign  land  that  had  an  elder 
sent  to  it  in  1840, — that  was  Australia.  A  young  man 
named  William  Barret  was  ordained  an 
elder  in  England,  and  sent  to  South 
Australia.  England,  Wales,  and  Scotland  had  many 
families  of  happy  Saints  rejoicing  in  the  truth,  every- 
one glad  to  think  that  in  America  there  was  a  gather- 
ing place  for  God's  people. 

And  you  may  now  come  back  to  America;  back  to 
Nauvoo,  the  city  that  travelers  tell  us  made  them 
think  of  the  sunny  city  of  Leghorn  in 
1  far  off  Italy.  It  is  winter.  The  broad 

face  of  the  Mississippi  is  frozen  and 
glassy,  but  from  hundreds  of  home  chimneys  the  blue 
wood  smoke  rises  and  is  carried  in  little  clouds  down 
the  river  before  the  northwest  wind. 

The  grove  just  up  the  hill  slope,  where  was  held 
the  October  conference,  is  stripped  of  leaves,  and  there 


1840]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  329 

is  the  moaning  sound  of  the  wind  in  the  trees  as  it 
sings  across  the  little  peninsula  on  which  the  beautiful 
city  of  rest  is  building,  where  three  thousand  people 
are  gathered  to  learn  of  God's  word  and  work  with 
others  who  want  to  have  the  world  learn  about  Jesus 
and  his  gospel. 

The  Times  and  Seasons  was  still  being  printed. 
Copied  from  that  paper,  into  volume  three,  pages  273 
to  277,  Church  History,  you  will  find  a 
long  article  prepared  by  the  Presidency 
of  the  church.  It  tells  to  the  people  how 
grateful  the  church  was  to  the  lawmakers  of  the  State 
of  Illinois  and  to  everyone  in  the  State  for  the  kind 
treatment  they  had  received. 

Then  they  tell  what  things  they  would  like  to  do, 
and  how  they  hope  to  live  so  that  Nauvoo  would  be- 
come a  great  and  a  good  city,  known  to  all  the  world 
for  its  pure  and  delightful  laws  and  gentle  and 
earnest,  learned,  and  patriotic  people.  They  wanted 
to  work  for  the  good  of  the  whole  world,  and  be  in 
harmony  with  the  state  laws  and  the  laws  of  the 
Nation,  for  no  man  can  be  a  Saint  who  is  not  a  patriot. 

Doctor  Isaac  Galland  had  sold  them  land  in  such 
a  way  that  they  could  pay  for  it  a  little  at  a  time.  He 
had  afterward  taken  some  of  the  Mis-  v.  , 

Kindness  of 

souri  land  belonging  to  the  church,  and     Doctor  Gal- 
cleared  the  debt,  beside  showing  other 
kindness ;  for  Doctor  Galland  was  a  man  of  education 
and  ability. 


330 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


[1841 


The  Presidency  called  for  help  to  build  the  Temple. 

Now  they  did  not  expect  that  only  Saints  would  live 
in  Nauvoo.  Oh,  no.  They  asked  all 
good  people  to  come  and  help  build  this 

good,  clean,  beautiful  city. 


A  clean  city. 


Old   chimney   at   the   old   landing   place   in   Nauvoo. 

On  Tuesday,  January  19,  1841,  the  Lord  gave  a 
long  revelation  to  the  Prophet.  From  this  time  very 
much  of  the  history  of  Nauvoo  and  the  church  rested 


1841]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  33^ 

on  what  was  in  this  revelation.  The  next  Sunday, 
January  24,  1841,  Hyrum  Smith  was  received  by  the 
church,  a  Patriarch  in  his  father's  place. 

That  left  only  two  in  the  Presidency,  but  the  Lord 
had  called  William  Law  to  take  Hyrum's  place  the 
same  time  he  called  Hyrum ;  so  that,  too, 
was  filled.    Although  you  may  remem-          bishop, 
her  that  the  Patriarch  Joseph  when  he 
died  said  that  Hyrum  would  take  his  place,  George 
Miller  took  the  place  of  Edward  Partridge  by  the 
same  call  as  these  other  men. 

On  January  30,  1841,  at  a  special  conference  in 
Nauvoo,  Joseph  Smith  was  appointed  trustee,  the 
one  to  hold  property  for  the  church. 

It  was  the  first  day  of  February,  1841,  that  the  first 
city  election  was  held  under  the  new  charter.  John 
C.  Bennett  was  elected  mayor,  and  the  city  council 
were  some  of  them  church  leaders  in  Nauvoo,  for  they 
wanted  to  help  make  and  keep  good  laws  in  Nauvoo. 
On  the  fourth  day,  the  people  met  and 
organized  the  Nauvoo  Legion.  Some  of 
the  leading  church  officers  were  made 
officers  in  this,  but  it  was  not  a  church  affair.  It  was  a 
military  order,  arranged  like  other  companies  of  sol- 
diers in  other  cities,  and  governed  by  the  same  rules 
as  controlled  such  companies  as  the  Carthage  Grays 
of  Illinois,  or  "Liberty  Blues"  of  Liberty,  Missouri. 
Every  man  who  was  able  was  expected  to  be  a  soldier 
if  needed.  They  were  furnished  arms  by  the  State, 


1841]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  333 

and  were  in  no  way  different  from  other  companies 
of  volunteer  soldiers  of  those  times. 

The  "University  of  the  City  of  Nauvoo"  was  ar- 
ranged for  by  the  city  council,  and  the  Board  of  Re- 
gents elected  Professor  James  Kelley,  A.  M.,  an 
alumnus  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  president  of  the 
university.  The  city  was  not  able  to  build  the  house 
they  planned  nor  to  do  very  much  for  the  university 


The  place  where  it  was  built  was  close  to  the  Mississippi  River. 

at  that  time,  and  so  they  waited,  hoping  some  day  to 
build  a  fine  house  for  the  school. 

But  they  did  not  go  without  schools  because  they 
were  not  able  to  build  a  fine  house.     Joseph  Smith 


334  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1841 

says,  "The  department  of  English  literature  and 
mathematics  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  Nauvoo, 
is  in  operation  under  the  tuition  of  Professor  Orson 
Pratt."  The  world  has  said  the  church  was  made  up  of 
ignorant  people,  but  their  history  shows  them  to  have 
been  constantly  trying  to  establish  schools  and  keep 
up  places  of  learning.  Not  only  the  children,  but  men 
and  women  studied  and  were  encouraged  in  it  by  the 
leaders  of  the  church. 

The  city  council  was  very  busy  passing  laws  against 
drunkenness  and  the  sale  of  drink  that  intoxicates, 
and  making  many  other  good  laws. 

The  Lord  had  told  them  to  build  a  large  and  com- 
fortable hotel  or  boarding  house  so  that  people  who 
traveled  might  find  a  place  of  rest,  and  hear  the  gos- 
pel. Already  the  home  of  Joseph  Smith  was  over- 
flowing with  people  anxious  to  learn  about  this  church 
which  was  not  yet  eleven  years  old,  and 
Houle.°  with  au  the  teaching  and  manners  of  the 

church  of  Christ.  The  new  hotel  was 
to  be  called  the  Nauvoo  House.  The  money  for  build- 
ing was  paid  in  by  people  who  believed  in  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  and  it  was  to  belong  to  the  people  who  paid 
the  money.  The  place  where  it  was  built  was  close  to 
the  Mississippi  River,  on  the  south  side  of  the  city. 
Indeed,  a  retaining  wall  was  built  around  the  south- 
west corner  and  across  the  south  end  of  the  lot,  close 
to  the  water. 

They  planned  the  house  to  be  beautiful,  grand,  and 


1841]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

very  substantial  and  strong.  It  was  all  arranged  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  The  com- 
pany of  people  owning  the  house  would  never  allow 
intoxicating  drinks  sold  or  used  in  the  house.  This 
was  not  usual,  for  in  those  days  nearly  all  boarding 
houses  or  taverns  kept  intoxicating  drinks  for  their 
guests. 

Joseph  Smith  was  most  kind  and  generous  to  peo- 
ple of  other  churches,  and  the  Nauvoo  Council 
adopted  his  views  about  treating  people  in  other 
churches  with  every  mark  of  respect  and  kindness. 

Nauvoo  also  had  formed  a  manufacturing  and 
agricultural  association. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1841 


CHAPTER  71. 

The  Temple  at  Nauvoo  Planned. 

ALL  THE  TIME  the  church  was  working  over  its  quo- 
rums and  getting  more  and  more  near  perfectly  in 
order,  for  God's  church  must  be  orderly.  At  this 
time  many  people  were  coming  from 
England.  Sometimes  the  ship  landed 
at  New  York,  and  the  people  came 
across  the  Eastern  and  Middle  Eastern  States  to 
Nauvoo.  Sometimes  they  landed  at  New  Orleans  and 
came  up  the  Mississippi  River  to  Nauvoo.  But  not 
all  who  came  to  America  got  to  Nauvoo. 

Along  the  way  they  stopped,  as  they  did  when  go- 
ing to  Far  West  in  the  thirties,  and  made  homes  where 
they  found  work.  These  people  often  made  the  start 
for  branches  of  the  church  that  grew  to  be  large,  and 
sometimes  they  only  stayed  until  they  got  money 
enough  to  go  further  on  their  way  to  Nauvoo. 

You  are  anxious  to  know  about  the  Temple,  I  am 
sure,  for  we  seldom -think  of  Nauvoo  without  recall- 
ing the  beautiful  Temple  that  arose  like 

The  Temple.  .   .  -,  -, 

a  vision  or  dream  and  was  soon  gone. 
We  must  not  forget  that  William  Marks  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Nauvoo  Stake,  and  Charles  C.  Rich  and 
Austin  Cowles  were  the  men  he  chose  to  counsel  and 
advise  with.  They  were  not  selected  until  March  29, 
1841,  but  he  was  president  long  before  that. 


1841] 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


337 


There  were  a  great  many  things  to  do  before  the 
corner  stone  of  the  Temple  was  laid.  But  on  the  sixth 
day  of  April,  1841,  with  singing  and 
prayer  and  speeches,  the  beautiful  lime- 
stone  piece  of  solid  rock  was  put  in  its 
place.  The  church  was  eleven  years  old  that  day. 
It  had  been  tried  by  many  things.  It  hoped  to  live 
peacefully  here  for  ever,  and  so  its  important  houses 
were  planned  strong, 
and  their  foundations 
laid  deep  and  wide. 

The  new  Temple  was 
to  be  a  quiet,  holy  place, 
where  people  could  sit 
and  think  and  listen  to 
the  words  of  the  gospel 
without  seeing  and 
hearing  the  things  that 
call  the  mind  away  to 
care  and  work.  They 
could  pray  without 
hearing  the  noises  and 
calls  that  called  atten- 
tion to  other  things 
about  them.  There 

were  rooms  for  the  different  quorums,  and  in  the  base- 
ment, quiet  and  shadowy,  was  to  be  a  big  stone  font 
where  the  people  could  be  baptized. 

How  still  it  was!  just  as  if  the  font  were  our  tomb. 


The   temple  that   arose  like   a  dream 
and  like  a  dream  was  soon  gone. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1841 

And  we  lie  under  the  water  as  our  dear  dead  lie  under 
the  ground,  and  we  rise  up  glad  and  triumphant  just 
as  they  will  rise  from  the  dead,  and  we  go  up  where 
there  is  sunshine  and  music  and  flowers  and  light  and 
a  new  kind  of  life,  as  they  will  on  the  resurrection 
morn.  That  is  the  idea  that  comes  about  this  font 
standing  on  its  twelve  stone  oxen  in  the  cool,  deep 
basement,  a  font  full  of  clean,  pure  water,  filled  from 
the  deep  well  built  on  the  temple  property,  and  sup- 
plying to  this  day  cool,  sweet  water.  For  a  day  came 
when  the  filth  of  the  cities  was  turned  into  the  rivers 
and  lakes. 

The  corner  stone  was  laid,  and  the  next  day,  in 
conference,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  gather 
means  to  build  the  Temple.  You  will  remember  that 
the  Temple  was  built  by  much  love  and 
sacrifice.  In  the  graveyard  in  Far 
West  slept  brave  David  Patten.  His 
place  was  still  empty  in  the  quorum,  but  on  April  7, 
1841,  Lyman  Wight,  the  hero  of  Ondi-Ahman,  was 
chosen  to  fill  the  place.  Now  the  Quorum  of  Twelve 
was  complete. 

While  these  things  were  going  on  in  Nauvoo,  the 
Saints  in  Manchester,  England,  were  having  a  con- 
ference, too,  and  they  had  fifty-eight  hundred  and 
fifty  members  in  England,  and  besides  these,  eight 
hundred  had  sailed  for  America.  Orson  Hyde  had 
landed  in  England  on  March  3,  1841,  and  was  at  this 
conference,  on  his  way  to  Palestine.  The  English 


1841]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  339 

Saints  were  happy,  indeed,  to  see  him  again.  Where 
was  John  E.  Page?  you  will  ask.  He  was  to  accom- 
pany Orson  Hyde.  We  must  look  out  for  him. 

The  English  Saints  were  feeling  a  little  lonely,  for 
all  the  Twelve,  excepting  Parley  P.  Pratt,  were  going 
back  to  America.  They  sailed  on  April 

-,         .,1,1  '    i          i      j          j      English  Saints. 

24,   and   with  them  one  hundred  and 
thirty  of  the  Saints.    Parley  P.  Pratt  had  his  family 
with  him,  so  he  stayed  and  took  charge  of  the  mission 
and  edited  the  Millennial  Star. 

And  how  is  our  Nauvoo  paper,  the  Times  and  Sea- 
sons? We  must  not  forget  that.  In  the  May  number 
for  1841,  we  find  that  Don  C.  Smith  has  a  companion 
in  editing,  the  man  who  helped  prepare  the  long 
article  telling  what  the  church  wanted  to  do  for  the 
people  of  the  earth.  His  name  was  R.  B.  Thompson. 

It  was  May  2  when  Stephen  A.  Douglas  visited 
Nauvoo,  with  Cyrus  Walker,  Esq.,  and  addressed  the 
people.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  at  this  time  justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  The  visit  was  very 
pleasant  to  the  Saints  for  many  reasons.  The  sum- 
mer of  1841  was  a  very  successful  one  for  the  church. 
Many  were  baptized,  and  many  miracles  of  healing- 
took  place. 


340  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1811 


CHAPTER  72. 

Busy   Scenes  in  Nauvoo. 

A  CONFERENCE  was  held  in  Kirtland,  and  A.  W. 
Babbitt  was  elected  president  of  that  stake,  with  Les- 
ter Brooks  and  Zebedee  Coltrin  for  counselors.    There 
were  laws  chosen  to  protect  and  keep 
the  Temple,  built  by  much  love  and 
hardships.    All  these  things  sound  like  peace  and  joy, 
but  over  in  Adams  County,  Illinois,  there  was  a  mur- 
mur that  sounded  like  old  Missouri  times,  threatening 
that  was  muffled  but  a  little  alarming  to  a  persecuted 
people. 

June  5,  1841,  Joseph  Smith  called  on  Governor 
Carlin,  of  Illinois,  in  Quincy,  on  his  return  from  see- 
ing some  of  the  Twelve  away  on  their  mission.  He 
was  treated  with  great  respect  by  the  governor.  In 
a  few  hours  after  he  left  the  governor's  home,  the 
sheriff  of  Adams  County  and  some  offi- 

Ja°rres?edSmith         Cers    °f    Quincy>    with    an    officer    from 

Missouri,  were  sent  by  the  governor  of 
Illinois  to  arrest  Joseph  Smith  and  give  him  into  the 
hands  of  the  officers  of  Missouri.  The  Missouri  offi- 
cers showed  such  an  evil  spirit  that  some  of  the  men 
left  them  in  disgust. 

Joseph  Smith's  trial  brought  forth  some  eloquent 
and  patriotic  speeches  from  Mr.  O.  H.  Browning,  a 
friend  to  mankind,  and  a  lawyer  with  both  heart  and 


1841]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

brains.  Joseph  Smith  was  not  sent  to  Missouri,  be- 
cause it  was  not  according  to  law  or  justice,  having  in 
the  first  place  never  been  guilty  of  treason,  and  then, 
too,  the  papers  of  arrest  were  without  value  in  law. 
As  Joseph  Smith  was  set  free  without 
blame,  there  was  a  glad  people  in  Nau- 
voo.  He  returned  to  Nauvoo  June  11. 
Missouri  never  rested  in  her  persecution  of  the  Saints, 
and  this  decision  only  made  her  people  try  some  other 
plan.  But  the  Saints  still  had  hope;  they  worked  on 
in  their  faithful  way. 

It  was  July  1,  1841,  when  Brigham  Young,  H.  C. 
Kimball,  and  John  Taylor  got  to  Nauvoo.  In  the 
Times  and  Seasons  for  July  we  find  a  long  account  of 
the  Temple. 

Near  to  Nauvoo  are  fine  quarries,  or  beds  of  beau- 
tiful, white  limestone;  of  this  they  began  to  build  the 
Temple.  Some  of  the  Saints  were  ex- 
cellent stone  masons,  and  they  worked 
out  the  figures  or  pictures  on  this  stone 
for  the  ornaments  of  the  Temple.  Those  who  could 
not  do  this  fine  work  did  the  heavy  work  of  getting 
the  stone.  Some  polished  stones,  and  some  made  mor- 
tar. Then  the  carpenters  and  plasterers  did  their 
part.  The  plan  was  to  work  nine  days  to  provide  for 
their  families,  and  on  the  tenth  day,  they  worked  for 
the  Temple.  You  can  see  how  that  would  keep  a 
good  force  of  men  working,  for  there  were  many 
thousands  of  them  now  in  Nauvoo,  and  over  in  Iowa. 


342  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1841 

It  was  July  12  that  the  church  was  told  they  might 
baptize  for  the  dead  on  the  Iowa  side  of  the  river.  On 
July  17,  1841,  Orson  Hyde  wrote  from  Ratisbon,  on 
the  Danube  in  Germany,  on  his  way  to  Palestine. 
And  where  is  Elder  Page? 

England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  the  Isle 
of  Man  had  heard  the  gospel  story,  not  everyone  in 
them;  but  the  story  is  like  the  yeast  in 
lands?"*  the  bread,— it  is  a  little  piece,  but  it 

goes  all  through  the  bread  and  makes 
it  good,  if  it  is  good  working  yeast.  So  if  a  few  peo- 
ple in  each  country  hear  the  gospel  and  be  good  work- 
ing Saints,  the  gospel  goes  all  through  that  country. 
So  the  men  who  worked  against  so  many  trials  felt 
that  it  would  be  well  for  the  church. 

And  now  it  is  August.  The  days  are  hot  and  dry. 
It  is  the  ninth  day  of  the  month,  and  there  is  no  work 
or  noise  in  the  office  of  the  Times  and  Seasons,  for 
one  of  its  editors  has  died, — Don  C.  Smith,  the  youth- 
ful president  of  the  High  Priests'  Quo- 
Death  of  pres- 
ident of  high  rum,  that  you  remember  in  that  upper 

room  of  the  Temple  at  Kirtland.  He 
was  working  at  printing  in  the  cellar  through  which 
ran  a  stream  of  water  from  a  spring  in  the  wall.  It 
was  this  that  caused  his  sickness  and  death.  The 
slender  and  drooping  form  of  Lucy  Smith  stood  near, 
as  they  laid  away  her  youngest  son  with  all  the  honor 
of  church  and  the  Nauvoo  Legion  of  which  he  was  an 
officer. 


18*1]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

But  the  widow  Agnes,  who  had  waded  Grand  River 
with  her  children  in  her  arms  to  escape  the  Missouri 
mob,  was  full  of  bitterness  and  despair,  and  was  never 
comforted  after  the  hardships  of  exile  life. 

Iowa  had  her  conference  August  7,  1841.  She  now 
had  seven  hundred  and  fifty  members  as  reported  to 
this  conference. 

Orson  Pratt  and  others  were  still  teaching  in  Nau- 
voo,  and  the  hot  summer  days  of  1841  found  a  healthy, 
happy  people,  and  where  had  been  sickness  and  want, 
now  was  comfortable  activity  and  plenty. 


344 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1841 


CHAPTER  73. 

Laying  of  the  Corner  Stone  of  the  Nauvoo  House. 

THERE  was  great  excitement  when  the  Indian  chiefs 

Keokuk,  Kishukosh,  and  Appanoose,  with  about  one 

hundred  chiefs  and  braves  of  their  tribes 

[ndian  visit.        and  their  families,  visited  Nauvoo  the 

twelfth  day  of  August,   1841.      They 

came  across  from  Iowa  in  boats,  but  when  they  did 

not  see  Joseph  Smith  (whom  they  knew)  among  the 

committee  sent  to  meet  them,  the  chief  refused  to  land, 

and  stayed  on  the  boat 
until  Joseph  Smith 
came  to  the  shore. 

Then  the  company 
landed  and  marched 
with  the  people  to  the 
grove  by  the  Temple. 
They  were  led  to  the 
grove  where  the  Saints 
held  meetings,  and  Jos- 
eph Smith  preached  to 

them.  He  had  given  Keokuk  a  Book  of  Mormon  some 
years  before  this.  Keokuk  said:  "I  look  rough,  but 
I  also  am  a  son  of  the  Great  Spirit."  They  went  back 
to  their  reservation  in  Iowa  after  a  feast  spread  for 
them  in  the  grove  by  the  Saints. 

The   Times  and  Seasons   needed   another   editor. 


Joseph  Smith  and  the  Indians. 


1841]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  345 

Robert  B.  Thompson  had  been  alone  in  the  office  since 
April,  and  there  appeared  again  as  editor  in  associa- 
tion with  him,  Ebenezer  Robinson,  who  had  been  as- 
sociate editor  of  the  paper  when  it  was  first  published 
in  1839;  so  he  easily  took  up  the  work 
for  the  September  number,  and  he  was 
soon  left  alone  with  the  work,  for  Au- 
gust 27,  Robert  B.  Thompson,  the  other  editor,  died 
at  Nauvoo.  So  the  church  lost  two  of  its  best  news- 
paper men  in  the  one  month  of  August,  1841. 

At  a  council  of  the  Quorum  of  Twelve  in  Nauvoo, 
August  31,  1841,  they  sent  Harrison  Sagers,  one  of 
The    High    Council    at    Adam-ondi- 
Ahman,    a   high   priest,   to   the   West     West  Indies. 
Indies,  and  Joseph  Ball  to  South  Amer- 
ica,  two   entirely  new  mission  fields,   and  Lorenzo 
Barnes  to  England. 

The  month  of  September  passed,  with  its  sunny 
days  and  soft,  warm  nights,  and  when  October  came, 
there  was  the  general  fall  conference  at  Nauvoo.  The 
autumn  days  were  warm  and  hazy.  The  river  seemed 
to  wear  a  gray-blue  veil,  so  closely  did 
the  mist  cling  to  it,  and  the  wooded  is- 
lands  wore  a  dozen  tints  painted  by  the 
early  frosts.  There  were  late  water  lilies  floating  on 
the  sloughs,  and  the  call  of  bobwhites  in  the  hazy 
afternoons.  While  the  Saints  sat  in  the  grove  for  this 
conference,  all  these  things  were  clear  to  the  boys,  and 
maybe  more  real  than  the  voice  of  the  men  taking  part 


346  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1841 

in  the  conference.  On  October  1,  1841,  it  had  been 
rainy  and  cool,  but  the  morning  of  the  second  was 
warm  and  sunny. 

From  the  lips  of  an  intelligent  and  truthful  woman, 

Mrs.  Anna  C.  Smith, 
was  heard  the  story  of 
one  great  event,  on  that 
day.  She  was  at  that 
time  seventeen  years 
old,  daughter  of  Ly- 
man  Wight,  and  re- 
called gathering  with 

Nauvoo  House  seen  from  the  south-    her     young     friends     to 

form  part  of  the  multi- 
tude thronging  up  from  the  shore  of  the  river  to  the 
laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Nauvoo  House. 
There  was  singing  and  prayer  and  music  by  a  band, 

as  the  southwest  corner  of  the  south- 
Corner  stone 

of  Nauvoo  east  wing  of  the  building  was  laid.    One 

copy  of  the  manuscript  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon  was  sealed  up  with  other  things  in  the  hollow 
square  left  for  them  under  the  stone.  It  was  a  typical 
autumn  morning,  beautiful  and  peaceful  as  a  dream; 
but  it  was  not  pleasant  long,  for  the  fall  winds  com- 
ing across  from  the  upper  river  carried  rain,  and  the 
people  were  made  conscious  of  the  need,  and  talked 
about  getting  a  conference  house  or  place  to  meet. 
The  announcement  was  made  by  Joseph  Smith: 
"There  shall  be  no  more  baptisms  for  the  dead  until 


1841]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

the  ordinance  can  be  attended  to  in  the  font  of  the 
Lord's  house;  and  the  church  shall  not  hold  another 
general  conference  unttil  they  can  meet  in  said 
house;  for  thus  saith  the  Lord."  So  there  was  special 
attention  given  to  the  temple  work. 

The  conference  still  urged  that  the  lawmakers  of 
the  country  should  try  to  make  the  Missouri  wrongs 
right,  and  sent  a  new  committee  to 
Washington,  our  old  friend,  Elias  Hig 
bee,  John  Taylor  of  the  Twelve,  and 
Elias  Smith.  John  Taylor  was  to  present  the  story 
at  Washington.  This  was  a  great  conference,  and  by 
Saturday  and  Sunday  the  weather  had  settled  back 
into  the  warmest,  sunniest,  Indian  summer. 

It  was  in  the  early  part  of  the  conference  that 
James  Sloan  was  made  general  church  clerk,  in  place 
of  Robert  B.  Thompson,  the  former 
editor  of  the  paper.  Don  C.  Smith's 
place,  as  President  of  High  Priests'  fu™sts'  QUO: 
Quorum,  was  filled  by  George  Miller,  a 
man  as  different  from  Don  C.  Smith  in  mind  and 
ways  as  can  be  imagined,  but  a  man  mentioned  in  the 
revelation  as  a  very  good  man  indeed. 

Of  course  there  were  conferences  at  other  places. 
Kirtland  held  her  conference,  at  which  A.  W.  Babbitt 
was  president.  W.  W.  Phelps  was  received  back  into 
the  church.  He  made  his  peace  with  the  Kirtland 
Saints ;  they  were  like  those  at  Nauvoo,  full  of  forgive- 


348  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1841- 

ness,  and  he  was  made  welcome,  and  did  much  of  the 
preaching  at  this  conference.  Do  you  remember  him? 
He  was  made  clerk  of  the  conference.  This  confer- 
ence agreed  to  publish  a  paper  called  the  Olive  Leaf. 
But  this  was  not  thought  to  be  a  wise  thing  by  some  of 
the  leaders,  for  they  wanted  to  finish  the  Temple  and 
boarding  house  at  Nauvoo,  and  turn  all  the  means 
possible  into  that  work. 

The  Twelve  were  not  pleased  with  the  way  the 

Times  and  Seasons  was  being  conducted  by  Ebenezer 

Robinson,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  a  change 

in  editors.    Our  early  church  papers  had 

New  editors.  n .  &      -i .  •  r™  • 

great  difficulties  to  surmount.  This 
man,  Ebenezer  Robinson,  wrote  his  farewell  as  editor 
with  a  good  feeling  to  the  church,  and  Joseph  Smith 
was  made  editor,  John  Taylor  assistant  editor,  and 
Willard  Richards  manager  of  the  printing. 

We  are  very  grateful  for  these  old  papers.  Al- 
though they  had  such  a  hard  time  to  live,  we  would 
be  almost  entirely  without  history  of  the  church  with- 
out them. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  349 


CHAPTER  74. 

Hastening   the   Building   of   the   Temple. 

THERE  is  nothing  to  show  that  the  two  historians 
appointed  at  Far  West  for  the  Missouri  church,  John 
Corrill  and  Elias  Higbee,  ever  wrote  any  history, 
although  they  were  busy  for  a  while  helping  to  make 
history. 

When  December,  1841,  came  to  Nauvoo,  the  Twelve 
wrote  a  long  message  to  the  church,  telling  them  that 
if  the  Temple  was  not  completed  speed- 
ily, the  church  would  be  rejected  by  the 
Lord.  The  church  organized  away 
back  in  Fayette,  New  York!  The  church  that  had 
come  by  such  sorrowful  stages  to  this  beautiful  city, 
must  it  be  disowned  by  the  Lord?  Ah,  yes;  if  it  did 
not  do  as  the  Lord  commanded.  In  this  way  the 
Twelve  wrote  to  all  the  church.  They  must  be  dili- 
gent and  spend  their  time  carefully.  There  was  no 
other  way  but  God's  way. 

We  will  watch  this  temple  building  and  see  if  it  ever 
is  finished.  The  Lord  said  he  would  give  them  suffi- 
cient time.  We  will  see  if  they  did  the  work. 

There  was  great  need  of  lumber  for  the  Temple  and 
boarding  house,  so  a  company  went  from  Nauvoo  to 
the  pineries  in  Wisconsin,  July  6,  1842.  There  were 
about  fifty  brethren,  with  provision  and  tools.  They 
were  to  saw  boards,  make  shingles,  and  come  back  the 


350  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1842 

next  spring  with  them.  The  July  sun  shone  hot  and 
long  on  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  as  these  two 
boats  moved  steadily  upward  toward  the  pine  woods. 
Sometimes,  and  most  of  the  time,  a  gentle  breeze  blew 
against  the  slowly  moving  boats;  but  the  nights  were 
delightful.  Then  the  stars  shone  above,  and  it  seemed 
as  many  were  in  the  water,  for  every  little  wave 
danced  with  a  star  on  its  crest. 

The  voices  of  the  men  drifted  out  toward  the  shores 
and  echoed  back  to  them  the  songs  they  loved  to  sing 
about  Zion  and  God's  people.  They  found  their  life 
in  the  pineries  pleasant  and  busy  from  the  time  they 
went  into  camp  until  the  big  loads  of  lumber  and 
planks  were  bound  into  rafts  and  started  down  the 
river  to  Nauvoo.  This  was  done  in  the  spring,  when 
the  water  was  high  and  swift.  .It  was  the  quickest  and 
cheapest  way,  for  there  were  no  great  freight  trains 
running  then  as  now. 

Nauvoo  had  many  poor.  They  were  always  with 
the  church,  for  the  gospel  came  to  the  poor.  Then 
you  remember  hundreds  lost  every- 
Nauvoo.  thing  at  the  fall  of  Far  West.  Many 

plans  were  made  for  the  assistance  of 
these  poor  and  sick.  On  March  4,  1842,  the  Ladies' 
Relief  Society  was  formed,  with  many  noble  ladies  to 
work  in  it.  Emma  Smith  was  president,  with  Eliza- 
beth Ann  Whitney  and  Sarah  M.  Cleveland  coun- 
selors, and  Eliza  R.  Snow  secretary.  It  was  not  long 
now  until  the  anniversary  of  the  church's  birthday 


1842]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  35  j 

again,  twelve  years  old;  and  what  sorrow  she  has 
known ! 

The  river  was  open  now.  All  the  ice  was  gone. 
There  was  even  a  hint  of  spring  along  the  banks,  for 
the  willows  were  wearing 
soft,  green  buds,  like  vel- 
vet hoods.  Down  near  the 
foot  of  Main  Street  was  a 
smooth  stretch  of  sandy 
beach.  The  water  came  up 
to  its  edge  in  swift,  long 
waves  of  clearest  sort,  as 
Joseph  Smith  stood, 
March  27,  1842,  in  the  cold 

Old  Main  Street. 

waters    and   baptized    one 

hundred  and  seven  persons  in  the  Mississippi  River 
at  this  point.  Some  of  these  were  children  who  after- 
ward became  happy,  faithful  Saints.  Some  wandered 
away  to  a  harder  lot,  but  not  one  ever  forgot  that  day. 
The  twelfth  birthday  came,  and  the  people  gathered 
for  conference.  Among  the  others  present  we  notice 
John  E.  Page.  Now  we  shall  find  out  why  he  did 
not  go  to  Palestine  on  his  mission  with  Orson  Hyde ; 
for  his  case  was  called  up.  And  really  Elder  Page 
was  not  very  much  to  blame.  He  had  considered 
Elder  Hyde  as  a  father,  and  did  just  as  Elder  Hyde 
told  him  to  do.  Elder  Hyde  was  in  fact  the  manager 
of  the  mission,  and  he  told  Elder  Page  he  would  go 
on  east,  and  Elder  Page  could  follow  him  later. 


352  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1842 

They  would  need  one  thousand  dollars  each,  and 

would  probably  not  leave  America  for  one  or  two 

years.    They  had  pledged  to  stay  together,  but  Elder 

Hyde  arranged  to  sail  early  in  the  spring,  and  as  you 

know,    landed    in    England,  March  3, 

and8  HydegC  1842'  But  Elder  Page  fina%  arranged 
to  follow  him.  The  Presidency  recalled 
him,  for  the  report  was  that  he  had  apostatized. 

The  trouble  was  not  finally  settled,  and  Elder  Page 
received  in  full  fellowship  again  until  this  conference, 
although  we  find  him  assisting  in  ordination,  March 
26,  1842,  the  month  before  conference.  He  was  sent 
to  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  troubled  over  the  fail- 
ure of  his  mission  to  Palestine,  blaming  himself  for 
not  keeping  with  Elder  Hyde.  But  Elder  Hyde's 
vision  was  fulfilled,  for  he  had  seen  himself  in  Pales- 
tine alone. 

Every  effort  was  now  turned  to  the  building  of  the 
Temple.  Presidency,  Twelve,  Seventy,  and  all  the 
church  were  calling  for  the  finishing  of  the  Temple. 


1842] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


353 


CHAPTER  75. 

Trouble  in  Nauvoo. 

THE  CITY  affairs  were  giving  a  little  trouble,  for 
John  C.  Bennett  was  being  found  out,  and  he  was 
mayor.  On  May  17,  1842,  he  was  asked  to  resign 
and  did  so  as  mayor,  and  Joseph  Smith  was  elected 
by  the  city  council,  mayor  for  the  unfinished  term. 
But  trouble  was  coming.  Governor  shootin  of 
Boggs,  of  Missouri,  had  been  shot  while  Governor 

Boggs 

sitting  in  his  house  at  Independence, 
Missouri.     He  lived  in  what  was  called  the  suburbs, 
but  is  now  not  far  southwest  of  the  square,  between 
Spring  and  Pleasant  Streets. 

The  man  who  shot  him  was 
never  found.  Boggs  was  not 
governor  at  the  time,  but  he 
was  trying  to  be  elected  state 
senator,  and  the  political  ex- 
citement was  great.  He  was 
not  dead,  although  at  first 
thought  to  be.  Some  of  the 
papers  printed  the  story  of  the  shooting,  and  insisted 
that  the  "Mormons"  did  it,  or  at  least  that  they  were 
to  blame  for  it. 

John  C.  Bennett  had  a  wife  and  two  children  in  the 
East,  but  he  let  no  one  know  of  it.    He  acted  like  a 


Boggs  Spring  in   Independ- 
ence,  Missouri. 


354  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1842 

man  without  a  family,  and  did  the  most  unholy  and 
wicked  things,  telling  people  that  the  church  leaders 
did  those  things  secretly.  He  even  said  that  Joseph 
Smith  had  told  him  to  do  those  things.  This  he  after- 
ward swore  that  he  never  had  done.  He 

John    C.    Ben- 
nett makes          was  acting  secretly  with  the  old  enemies 

of  the  church,  trying  to  get  the  church 
leaders  into  the  power  of  the  Missourians  again.  He 
was  finally  cut  off  from  the  church,  and  his  wickedness 
published  in  the  paper;  and  a  statement  from  Bennett 
that  Joseph  Smith  never  taught  him  anything  hut 
what  was  right  and  pure  was  published. 

The  Masons  discovered  that  he  had  been  put  out  of 
the  Lodge  at  Pickaway,  Ohio,  so  the  Nauvoo  Lodge 
dropped  him.  Like  some  filthy,  evil  thing  he  was  put 
out  of  the  company  of  good  people,  and  joined  with 
the  Missouri  ruffians  in  trying  to  destroy  the  Saints, 
and  especially  to  kill  Joseph  Smith,  whom  he  had 
declared  that  he  loved  so  dearly.  When  a  man  or 
woman  turns  away  from  the  good,  pure  way  of  life, 
no  matter  how  secret  he  may  try  to  be,  sooner  or 
later  he  loses  his  place  among  pure,  righteous  people, 
and  becomes  a  shame  and  a  coward. 

Nauvoo  had  a  splendid  Fourth  of  July  celebration. 
There  were  just  two  people  who  offered  whisky  for 
sale,  and  they  were  immediately  arrested  and  fined 
ten  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  each.  But  trouble 
came  on  August  8.  The  happy  Saints  felt  quite 
secure  from  the  Missourians  for  a  short  time,  but  nowr 


1842]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

suddenly  a  deputy  sheriff  sent  by  the  real  sheriff  of 

Adams  County,  Illinois,  came  with  two  men  to  help 

him,   and  arrested  Joseph   Smith  and 

Orrin  P.  Rockwell   on   the    charge    of 

shooting  Lilburn  W.  Boggs.     Joseph 

Smith  was  arrested  because  Boggs  believed  that  he 

knew  about  it  before  it  was  done. 

The  men  went  with  the  officer  and  got  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  from  the  city  court.    A  writ  of  habeas 
corpus    meant    that    the    officers    must 
bring  the  men  they  had  arrested  before     ££erj£ht  t0 
their  court  and  let  the  court  examine 
into  the  trouble  and  see  if  it  was  lawful  for  the  men  to 
be  prisoners  and  go  with  these  officers  where  they 
wanted  to  take  them. 

The  city  of  Nauvoo  had  a  right  to  do  this.  The 
officers  would  not  do  it.  They  put  their  papers  in 
their  pockets  and  went  back  to  Governor  Carlin, 
leaving  the  men  with  the  marshal  until  they  got  more 
instruction.  Investigation  of  the  law  shows  that  they 
had  no  right  to  arrest  these  men,  and  they  knew  it; 
so  Joseph  Smith  and  Orrin  P.  Rockwell 

Governor  or 

went   about  their  work.     But  Joseph     Illinois  not  a 
Smith   had   discovered   that    Governor 
Carlin  was  not  a  friend  of  his  nor  of  the  church.    He 
was  sure  that  he  could  not  get  justice  with  Governor 
Carlin  at  the  head  of  the  State.    Very  much  depends 
on  the  governor  in  a  case  where  a  man  is  taken  from 
one  State  to  another,  and  Governor  Carlin  was  either 


356  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

ignorant  or  mean.     So  when  his  officers  came  back, 
the  men  were  not  to  be  found. 

The  hiding  of  Joseph  Smith  was  a  simple  thing, 
for  he  tells  where  he  was,  with  friends,  first  with  a 
Brother  Sayers.  But  if  you  ever  go  to  Nauvoo,  or 
if  you  do  not,  you  may  hear  strange  and  impossible 
stories  about  secret  passages  under  the 
ground  and  all  manner  of  absurd  and 
foolish  things.  While  he  was  hiding  in 
very  ordinary  and  comfortable  homes,  he  wrote  many 
good  and  careful  things  to  the  Saints,  and  they  used 
every  power  to  get  Governor  Carlin  to  promise  to 
protect  him  and  them  from  the  Missourians. 

Emma  Smith  wrote  letters  entreating  him  to  pro- 
„  tect  them,  appealing  to  his  honor  and 

Emma    Smith 

writes  the  love  of  good.     The  governor  answered 

and  assured  her  there  was  no  danger; 
Missouri  would  do  the  right  thing.  But,  ah !  the  Saints 
knew  the  Missourians  of  '38  and  '40.  It  was  in  vain, 
for  Governor  Carlin  said  to  the  messengers  and 
friends  of  the  Saints:  "There  is  no  excitement  any- 
where but  in  Nauvoo,  amongst  the  Mormons  them- 
selves." But  when  he  talked  to  them  on  another 
subject,  he  forgot  himself  and  said  that  persons  were 
offering  themselves  every  day,  either  by  person  or 
letter,  and  were  ready  to  go  against  the  "Mormons" 
whenever  he  should  call  them.  He  admitted  that  he 
did  not  know  the  law,  and  in  every  way  showed  that  he 
was  not  a  friend  to  the  Saints. 


1842]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

Joseph  Smith  tells  in  his  history  how  his  wife 
(Emma  Hale)  came  with  a  carriage  and  took  him 
from  Brother  Sayers'  to  Brother  Carlos  Granger's, 
away  over  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  city.  Then 
one  day  he  went  to  the  place  where  he  had  his  office, 
upstairs  over  the  storeroom,  in  the  store 
on  Water  Street.  This  was  a  block 
west  of  the  Mansion  (the  Smith  home) , 
and  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  same  block  where 
the  Homestead,  the  first  home  of  Joseph  Smith  in 
Nauvoo,  is  located.  Here  he  held  council  with  the 
brethren  about  it  not  being  legal  for  the  men  to  arrest 
him.  His  old  mother  visited  him  here.  His  wife  sent 
him  a  note  and  he  went  home.  Once  when  his  brother 
Hyrum  was  preaching,  Joseph  Smith  suddenly 
stepped  upon  the  stand,  but  there  was  fear  in  the 
hearts  of  all  for  him. 

In  vain  the  Relief  Society  and  Joseph  Smith  and 
Emma  and  others  wrote  to  the  governor.  He  gave 
them  no  hope  of  protection. 


358  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1843 


CHAPTER  76. 

Enemies  of  the  Church  Seek  to  Take  Charter  from  Nauvoo. 

AT  LAST  the  year  1842  passed,  and  in  January, 
1843,  Thomas  Ford  became  governor  of  Illinois. 
Then  Joseph  Smith  and  his  friends 
asked  Governor  Ford  to  send  the  old 
paper,  that  Governor  Carlin  tried  to 
arrest  them  with,  down,  and  he  would  be  tried  and  see 
if  it  was  a  true  way.  Governor  Ford  sent  a  paper 
just  like  it,  and  Joseph  Smith  went  to  the  capital  at 
Springfield,  Illinois,  and  gave  himself  to  the  officers, 
and  was  tried  and  proved  that  thousands  had  seen  him 
in  Nauvoo  the  day  Governor  Boggs  was  shot.  It  was 
plainly  shown  that  Governor  Reynolds,  of  Missouri, 
had  no  right  to  ask  Governor  Carlin,  of  Illinois,  for 
Joseph  Smith,  and  that  Carlin  was  false 

Proven  inno-         a§  Reynolds  was>   for  Judge  pope  de_ 

cided  there  was  no  law  for  any  of  it. 
They  proved  Joseph  Smith  had  not  been  in  Missouri 
for  three  years.  So  Joseph  Smith  went  back  home, 
and  the  whole  church  rejoiced. 

The  work  in  Nauvoo  had  gone  on  quietly.  Of 
course,  Joseph  Smith  had  not  been  able  to  do  the 
editor's  work  on  the  Times  and  Seasons.  So  he  re- 
signed, and  John  Taylor  did  the  work.  Orson  Hyde 
was  back  from  his  trip  to  Palestine,  and  now  the 
Saints  felt  that  the  Missouri  trouble  was  for  ever 


1843]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  3/59 

settled,    and   their   minds    turned   to   others   things. 

Kirtland,  dear  old  Kirtland,  where  the  Saints  first 
gathered;  it  was  growing  and  rejoicing.  The  Temple 
wTas  often  filled  with  happy  worshipers  now. 

Parley  P.  Pratt  landed  in  New  Orleans  early  in 
January,  1843.  Early  in  February,  he  visited  Nau- 
voo,  and  was  delighted  with  its  growth  and  prospects. 

Now,  are  you  not  anxious  about  our  paper  over  in 
England?  We  do  not  like  to  see  any  of  these  papers 
die.  We  find  it  still  coming  to  the  people,  with  Elder 
Thomas  Ward  at  its  head,  and  the  English  Mission 
still  growing. 

The  enemies  of  the  church  tried  to  get  the  law- 
makers of  the  State  of  Illinois  to  take  the  charter 
away   from   Nauvoo,   so   that  Nauvoo 
would  not  be  a  city  with  her  own  laws         fharter*16 
any  more.    But  William  Smith,  brother 
of    Joseph,    was    a    representative    from    Hancock 
County,  and  he  kept  them  from  doing  this  thing.  Two 
different  times  he  had  to  stand  boldly  and  carefully 
to  save  the  charter.    That  was  in  1842  and  1843. 

The  people  of  Nauvoo  were  very  glad  to  be  at  peace 
again.  The  young  people  made  up  a  society  of  their 
own,  and  the  leading  men  helped  them 
organize  it  properly.  They  called  it 
"The  Young  Gentlemen  and  Ladies 
Relief  Society  of  Nauvoo."  Its  purposes  were  to  cor- 
rect the  follies  of  youth,  guard  against  evil,  and  do 
good  to  those  who  were  needy. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1843 

Again  the  birthday  of  the  church  has  come.  It  is 
April  6,  1843.  How  old  is  our  church  to-day?  Thir- 
teen years  old.  The  conference  met  on  the  platform 
of  the  Temple  in  Nauvoo.  Looking  over  the  quorums 
of  leading  men,  we  miss  many  with  whom  we  have 
traveled  in  our  journey  with  the  church:  Oliver  Cow- 
dery  and  the  Whitmers  left  back  in  Missouri;  our 

church  historian,  John  Whitmer,  with 

them;  our  physician,  Thomas  B.  Marsh; 
the  brave  Captain  Patten;  and  the  statesman,  John 
Corrill;  the  weak  giant,  McLellin;  the  saintly  Edward 
Partridge;  the  boy  printer,  Don  C.  Smith;  the  bishop, 
Vinson  Knight;  the  scholarly  Robert  B.  Thompson; 
the  honest  Doctor  Frederick  G.  Williams;  the  great- 
hearted patriarch,  Joseph  Smith,  senior,  and  many 
more ;  some  still  in  the  service ;  some  grown  cold ;  some 
asleep  in  death. 

Now  we  must  tell  of  something  that  caused  un- 
told sorrow  and  shame  and  suffering.     All  up  and 

down  the   river   there   were   gangs   of 
d        thieves  who  stole  goods  in  one  State  and 

hid  them  in  another.  Nauvoo,  like  all 
river  towns,  was  used  as  a  home,  or  sometimes  a  hid- 
ing place,  for  these  lawless  people.  The  enemies 
of  the  church  were  glad  to  find  something  to  make 
trouble  for  the  Saints,  for  there  was  continually  some- 
thing being  worked  up  by  the  Missourians.  The  sad- 


1843]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

dest  part  of  it  was  that  it  was  claimed  some  of  these 
people  were  connected  with  the  church. 

The  leading    men  tried  in  every  way  to  put  down 
this  wickedness,  Governor  Ford  telling  about  it  in  his 
Message  says:  "There  was  no  more  stealing  in  Nau- 
voo  than  in  other  river  towns  of  its  size,  probably  not 
as  much  as  in  some  cities."     The  papers  printed  at 
that  time  in  Nauvoo  show  that  Joseph 
and   Hyrum   Smith  were  very  strong     trouble  °f 
against  these  evil  doings.     But  the  pa- 
pers also  show  that  the  enemies  made  as  much  as  pos- 
sible of  the  fact  of  there  being  any  of  it  in  Nauvoo. 
There  were  many  lives  lost  because  of  these  things. 

One  band  of  horse  thieves  and  robbers  made  it  their 
business  to  go  through  Nauvoo  and  arrange  circum- 
stances so  that  their  guilt  would  be  thrown  on  some 
"Mormon."  Half  a  century  afterward,  some  of  these 
things  were  told  by  those  who  knew  of  it.  But  always 
there  was  hope  that  the  law  would  protect  the  church, 
and  always  they  worked  in  hope. 


3(32  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1843 


CHAPTER  77. 

President  of  the  Church  Kidnaped. 

MISSIONARIES  were  sent  to  Russia  for  the  church, 
Orson  Hyde  and  a  man  named  George  J.  Adams 
being  appointed  to  that  mission. 

The  summer  of  1843  was  gone,  and  the  work  on  the 
Temple  had  been  stopped  because  the  steel  and  iron, 
the  teams  to  haul  material  and  powder 

"1" 


stoppd"1"  to  blast  the  rock>  and  manY  other  things 
could  not  be  had.  The  usual  fall  con- 
ference was  held  on  October  6,  1843,  and  the  Temple 
work  received  much  attention.  Alpheus  Cutler,  of  the 
Far  West  corner  stone  fame,  and  Reynolds  Cahoon, 
of  the  Kirtland  Temple  committee,  were  still  working 
on  the  building  committee  at  Nauvoo,  and  called  for 
help. 

There  was  another  church  trouble  settled  at  this 
conference.  Sidney  Rigdon  was  still  counselor  in  the 
Presidency,  but  there  were  complaints  against  him. 
He  was  postmaster  at  IVauvoo,  having  been  made 
postmaster  when  his  son-in-law,  George  W.  Robin- 
son, died.  There  were  stories  told  that  he  was  not 
true  to  the  Prophet,  and  was  helping  the  enemies  of 
the  church. 

There  was  much  pleading  by  Sidney  Rigdon,  and 
he  explained  some  of  the  stories  and  proved  the  rest 
untrue.  Hyrum  Smith  pleaded  for  mercy,  reminding 


1843]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

the  people  of  God's  mercy.  Indeed,  we  always  find 
this  man  Hyrum  Smith  pleading  mercy  and  justice 
and  kindness.  Joseph  Smith  said  he  was  willing  to 
have  Elder  Rigdon  keep  his  place  if  he  would  do  right 
in  it ;  so  the  church  voted  that  he  should  stay. 


Home  of  Sidney  Rigdon,  first  post  office  in  Nauvoo. 

The  story  of  our  church  makes  us  think  of  the 
statement  of  Christ:  "I  came  not  to  bring  peace,  but  a 
sword"; — for     the     Missourians     were 
again  kidnaping  the  Saints  and  keep-     na^ng.1 
ing  them  prisoners  in  Missouri,  with- 
out the  law;  and  so  there  was  fear  and  trouble.    The 
Times  and  Seasons  tells  of  these  things  .in  its  Novem- 
ber, 1843,  number,  and  tells  them  very  plainly. 

It  was  during  this  summer  of  1843,  in  June,  that 
the  Missourians  kidnaped  Joseph  Smith  while  he 
was  visiting  with  his  wife  at  her  sister's,  Mrs.  Dee,  in 


364,  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1843 

Lee  County,  Illinois.  Joseph  Smith  asked  for  a  writ 
of  habeas  corpus.  You  remember  that  paper  given 
by  law  that  keeps  a  man  from  being  tried  in  a  court 
by  people  who  will  not  do  what  is  just.  It  is  a  most 
excellent  law,  and  while  some  laws  make  men  free, 
this  one  keeps  them  free, 

But  these  men  were  not  willing  to  let  Joseph  Smith 
get  this  paper.  They  treated  him  shamefully,  as  they 
did  all  Saints  when  they  got  hold  of  them.  But  the 
citizens  of  Dixon  interfered;  they  found  out  the  kid- 
napers were  not  acting  in  the  law,  so  they  were  ar- 
rested for  false  imprisonment.  All  reached  Nauvoo, 
where  Joseph  Smith  was  set  free  by  the  city  court. 
The  kidnapers  gave  bail,  and  went  to  the  governor 
for  instruction. 

And  what  was  Joseph  Smith's  arrest  for?  For 
treason  to  the  State  of  Missouri.  When?  When  Ly- 
man  Wight,  at  the  head  of  the  volunteer  militia  of 
Missouri,  drove  the  mobbers  from  Daviess  County  in 
1838.  While  the  trial  of  Joseph  Smith  was  going  on 
at  Nauvoo,  the  two  kidnapers  or  officers  were  enter- 
tained by  Joseph  Smith  at  his  own  home  in  the  best 
and  kindest  manner,  Mrs.  Smith  herself  looking  after 
their  meals. 

When  the  governor  of  Missouri  heard  that  Joseph 

Smith  was  free,  he  asked  Governor  Ford,  of  Illinois, 

to  call  out  his  militia  or  soldiers  and  help 

Law   fulfilled.  ,,  •  T>         /-i 

arrest  the  man  again.     But  Cxovernor 
Ford  refused  to  do  it,  because  the  law. had  been  ful- 


1843]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

filled.  It  has  been  said  that  this  plot  to  take  Joseph 
Smith  back  to  Missouri  at  this  time  was  made  up 
between  John  C.  Bennett  and  Samuel  Owen.  You  re- 
member Bennett,  the  gay  military  man  of  Nauvoo 
who  was  turned  out  for  his  low-minded,  evil-hearted 
way,  and  Samuel  Owen,  the  Old  Jackson  County  mob 
leader,  who  came  near  drowning  while  crossing  the 
Missouri  River. 


366  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1844 


CHAPTER  78. 

Politics  Make  Trouble  for  the  Saints. 

THE  YEAR  1844  was  the  Presidential  year,  or  year 
when  the  United  States  elects  her  President  for  four 
years.  The  Saints  were  sick  of  injustice,  and  eager 
to  vote  for  some  man  who  w'ould  be  just  to  them. 
Every  man  that  was  named  to  be  voted  for  they  wrote 
to,  asking  what  he  would  do  for  them  if  elected.  The 
letters  were  some  of  them  answered  in  a  manly,  safe 
way,  but  there  appeared  no  real  hope.  They  had  been 
persecuted  by  men  of  every  kind  of  politics.  No  one 
kind  had  been  better  to  them  than  another. 

The  men  who  wanted  state  or  Hancock  County 
offices  wanted  the  "Mormon"  vote,  for  they  were  a 
large  part  of  the  county,  and  in  a  meas- 

ure  of  the  State-  So  men  looking  for 
places  among  the  lawmakers  wrote  very 
fine  letters  to  the  Saints  or  came  to  them  and  made 
fine  speeches. 

The  question  of  taking  away  the  city  charter  from 
Nauvoo  was  causing  much  discussion  among  the 
statesmen  of  Illinois  and  the  enemies  of  the  church 
kept  the  question  constantly  agitated.  If  the  city 
charter  was  taken  away  it  would  disgrace  Nauvoo  and 
take  from  the  city  the  power  to  protect  its  citizens  and 
in  a  measure  the  control  of  them. 

At  a  meeting  held  in  Nauvoo,  January  29,  1844, 


1844]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

to  talk  over  the  situation,  they  decided  that  as  a  church 
they  could  not  have  faith  in  any  of  the  tickets  put  up 
by  the  different  parties.  They  had  been  fooled  so 
often,  and  suffered  so  much,  that  they  could  not  trust 
men. 

Joseph  Smith,  a  man  who  spoke  quickly  and  with 
fearlessness  for  any  point  that  he  considered  right, 
was  not  pleased  with  the  carefully  worded  and  mild 
letters  written  to  him  by  John  C.  Calhoun  and  Henry 
Clay.  In  the  Times  and  Seasons  for  February,  1844, 
there  appeared  a  long  letter  written  by  Joseph 
Smith,  telling  the  people  his  ideas  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States.  It  was  a  fine  thing  in  many 
ways,  and  was  spoken  of  by  many  of  the  other  papers 
of  the  times. 

One  thing  the  Saints  worked  against  was  the  letting 
of  each  State  act  as  it  pleased,  and  control  itself  in 
every  way. 

The  Saints  knew  how  they  had  suffered  because 
Missouri  could  be  indifferent  and  her  governor  inhu- 
man, and  no  power  greater  than  she  interfere,  and 
they  wanted  the  people  to  think  of  this  different  way 
that  would  have  saved  the  world  many  a  bloody  war. 

The  History  of  Illinois  says  that  from  the  time 
when  Cyrus  Walker,  the  Whig,  was  defeated,  the  peo- 
ple saw  that  the  "Mormon"  vote  meant  defeat  or  vic- 
tory to  the  parties,  and  Whigs  and  many  Democrats 
determined  to  drive  the  "Mormons"  from  the  State. 
One  party  was  bad  as  the  other,  because  each  was 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1844 

afraid  the  "Mormons"  would  vote  for  the  other.  The 
Cyrus  Walker  vote  was  the  turning  point,  and  from 
that  time,  the  shadow  lay  toward  Carthage. 

Let  us  go  back  to  the  February  number  of  the 
Times  and  Seasons  for  1844,  and  read  a  notice  signed 
by  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith: 

"As  we  have  lately  been  credibly  informed,  that  an 

elder  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  Latter  Day 

Saints,  by  the  name  of  Hiram  Brown, 

lygamy!  P°         nas    ^een    preaching    polygamy,    and 

other   false   and   corrupt  doctrines,   in 

the  County  of  Lapeer,  State  of  Michigan. 

"This  is  to  notify  him  and  the  church  in  general, 
that  he  has  been  cut  off  from  the  church,  for  his  in- 
iquity; and  he  is  further  notified  to  appear  at  the 
Special  Conference,  on  the  sixth  day  of  April  next, 
to  make  answer  to  these  charges. 

"JOSEPH  SMITH, 

"HYRUM  SMITH, 

"Presidents  of  said  Church." 

Sidney  Rigdon's  name  is  not  there,  although  he 
was  still  one  of  the  Presidency,  he  being  in  Penn- 
sylvania. 

There  came  to  Nauvoo  letters,  asking  if  it  was 
the  belief  of  the  church  that  a  man  could  have  more 
than  one  wife,  for  this  world  or  the  other.  The 
paper,  Times  and  Seasons,  printed  at  that  time  shows 
the  church  did  not  believe  these  things  nor  preach 


n 

£_  so 


^^ 

"i 


«  s 
—  o 


C  -M 

If 


•M   O 

o  ">> 


I- 

3° 

:i 


370  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1844 

them.  Everything  that  is  against  the  words  of  the 
Bible,  Book  of  Mormon,  and  Doctrine  and  Covenants 
is  not  a  part  of  the  church,  and  you  know  these  books 
all  say  that  polygamy  and  adultery,  etc.,  are  abom- 
inable. God  loves  the  pure  and  true  and  virtuous  peo- 
ple, and  will  have  no  other. 

Joseph    Smith   continued   to    fight    against    wick- 
edness of  every  kind  in  the  church,  but  there  were 
troubles  deep  and  terrible  coming;  for 
f rom i truth.         some  in  the  church  were  guilty  of  these 
wicked  things,  and  he  knew  they  must 
be  cut  off  to  save  the  church. 


1844]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 


CHAPTER  79. 

Leading  Churchmen  Arrested. 

WHEN  the  sixth  day  of  April,  1844,  came,  the 
Saints  gathered  for  conference,  but  there  was  no 
peace  in  the  city.  Although  missionaries  were  sent 
out,  and  some  business  done,  there  were  excitement 
and  fear  in  many  hearts. 

Doctor  R.  D.  Foster,  William  and  Wilson  Law, 
Chauncey  and  Francis  Higbee,  sons  of  our  good  old 
Judge  Elias  Higbee,  were  acting  unlike  Christians, 
and  doing  things  that  were  not  pure,  and  they  were 
cut  off  from  the  church ;  but  every  time  a  man  was  cut 
off  from  the  church,  the  enemy  was 
stronger  openly,  but  these  false  men  in 
the  church  were  more  dangerous.  Our 
good  and  valiant  Judge  Elias  Higbee  slept  on  the  hill- 
side over  the  river  bank.  A  year  now  the  grave  had 
held  his  body.  His  work  was  nobly  and  faithfully 
done,  and  he  slept  with  honors;  but  his  sons  do  not 
seem  to  be  like  him. 

In  a  trial  of  Joseph  Smith,  brought  on  by  Francis 
Higbee  for  money,  Mr.  Higbee  did  not  appear,  but 
the  court  took  the  evidence  and  found 

.     -.-    _„.    ,  ,      .,  ,      -.       Unworthy  son. 

that  Francis  M.  Higbee  and  others  had 
worked  up  a  scheme  to  take  the  life  of  Joseph  Smith. 
So  Francis  Higbee  was  cut  off  from  the  church.    Jos- 
eph Smith  was  found  not  guilty  of  Higbee's  charges. 


372  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1S44 

Early  on  June  7,  1844,  there  was  a  new  paper  pub- 
lished in  Nauvoo.    It  was  called  the  Nauvoo  Expos- 
itor, and  was  full  of  false  stories  and 

2K5  EX~  wicked  and  awfu*  things  about  the 
church  and  church  leaders.  It  was  June 
10  when  the  city  council  met  and  voted  the  paper  a 
nuisance,  and  ordered  the  mayor  (you  remember  the 
mayor  of  Nauvoo  was  Joseph  Smith)  to  have  the 
paper  and  things  connected  with  it  removed  right 
away.  So  the  mayor  ordered  Marshal  John  P.  Green 
to  do  as  the  council  ordered,  and  Mr.  Green  with  some 
men  went  to  the  office  and  took  the  press  and  type, 
paper  and  everything,  and  scattered  them  and  de- 
stroyed them. 

Francis  M.  Higbee  went  right  to  Carthage  and  had 
Joseph  Smith  arrested,  along  with  Samuel  Bennett, 
John  Taylor,  William  W.  Phelps,  Hyrum  Smith, 
John  P.  Green,  Stephen  Perry,  D.  B.  Huntington, 
Jonathan  Harmon,  J.  P.  Harmon,  John  Lytle,  J.  W. 
Coolidge,  H.  D.  Redfield,  Porter  Rockwell,  and  Levi 
Richards,  saying  that  they  had  raised  an  unlawful 
noise  and  confusion,  called  a  riot.  They  were  all  tried 
before  the  Nauvoo  courts  and  set  free. 

On  June  14,  1844,  the  mayor,  Joseph  Smith,  made 

a  long  report  to  Governor  Thomas  Ford,  of  Illinois, 

telling  him  every  little  thing  about  the 

affair.    He  said  if  the  governor  thought 

best,  they  were  willing-  to  be  tried  again,  and  see  if 

what  they  had  done  was  lawful.     They  were  tried 


1844]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  373 

again  before  a  man  who  was  not  a  "Mormon,"  and  all 
set  free  once  more.  But  the  wicked  men  who  had 
been  put  out  of  the  church,  and  the  political  enemies 
were  using  the  "riot"  story,  and  mobs  were  meeting 
everywhere. 

The  traitors  who  had  been  put  out  of  the  church 
worked  with  both  political  parties  and  the  traitors  still 
in  the  church  worked  secretly.    Of  course,  there  were 
people    in    the    county    who    were    not    against    the 
Saints.     The  mob  called  them  "Jack 
Mormons."    There  were  tales  of  horror     |"^s.S  t0 
told  of  the  "Mormons'  "  murders  and 
stealing.     Every  wicked  thing  done  by  anyone  any- 
where in  the  counties  around  Hancock  was  laid  to  the 


The  clear  waters  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

Saints.     Men  hearing  of  "Mormon"  mobs  rushed  to 
the  place  to  find  it  all  untrue. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  tumult  and  dangerous  gath- 
ering, Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith  were  again  about 


374 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1844 


The  last 
arrest. 


to  be  arrested  for  the  Expositor  trouble.  They  were 
not  afraid  of  a  trial  by  law,  but  they  were  afraid  of  the 
mob;  so  they  crossed  the  Mississippi 
River  into  Iowa,  where  they  were  secure. 
Governor  Ford  sent  them  word  that 
the  militia  would  protect  them  from  the  mob,  and  they 
went  to  Carthage  and  gave  themselves  into  the  hands 
of  the  officers.  They  went  before  Judge  R.  F.  Smith, 
of  Carthage,  Illinois,  Captain  of  the  Carthage  Grays, 
and  offered  security  that  they  would  be  sure  to  be 
before  the  court  at  its  next  meeting.  On  that  same 
day  they  were  arrested  on  a  charge  of  treason  to  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  without  examination  they  were 
sent  to  jail.  But  what  else? 

It  was  June  24, 
1844,  when  Jos- 
eph and  Hyrum 
Smith  and  others 
arrested  got  word 
from  the  gov- 
ernor that  they 
should  be  pro- 
t  e  c  t  e  d.  They 
started  for  Car- 
thage, and  when 
four  miles  from 

Carthage,  they  met  Captain  Dunn  and  some  soldiers. 
Captain  Dunn  had  an  order  from  Governor  Ford  for 
the  "state  arms"  at  Nauvoo.  Dunn  seemed  afraid  to 


Old  "Mormon  Arsenal." 


1844]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  375 

go  into  Nauvoo  after  them,  even  after  Joseph  Smith, 
the  general,  had  signed  the  order.     So  the  company 
from  Nauvoo  turned  about  and  marched         Governor 
back  to  get  the  arms.    Then  all  returned         promises 
to  Carthage,  arriving  about  midnight. 
On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth,  they  saw  the  gov- 
ernor.    He  pledged  the  faith  of  the  State  that  they 
should  be  protected.     It  was  immediately  after  this 
that  the  arrest  for  treason  was  made,  and  proceedings 
brought  against  them. 


376 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1844 


Jail  at  Carthage,  Illinois. 


CHAPTER"  "80. 

Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith  Slain. 

WHEN  JOSEPH  SMITH 
bade  farewell  to  his  people 
and  started  to  Carthage  on 
that  sunny  June  day  in 
1844,  he  said:  "I  am  going 
like  a  lamb  to  the  slaugh- 
ter; I  have  a  conscience 
void  of  offense  toward 

God,  and  toward  all  men — I  shall  die  innocent,  and  it 
shall  yet  be  said  of  me,  He  was  murdered  in  cold 
blood."  With  him  in  the  jail  that  day,  beside  his  faith- 
ful brother  Hyrum,  were  John  Taylor 
and  Willard  Richards  of  the  Twelve. 
They  were  not  in  cells,  but  were  in  a 
room  on  the  second  floor  of  the  jail,  called  a  sitting 
room. 

The  governor  had  been  planning  for  some  time  to 

take  his  troops  and  march  into  Nauvoo  and  see  if  the 

stories  of  the  Saints'  wickedness  were 

to°Tlauvoog0eS     really  true.  The  troops  were  to  meet  him 

at  a  place  called  Golden  Point.     But 

he  became  alarmed  at  the  way  some  of  the  men  talked. 

When  he  introduced  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith  to  the 

"Carthage   Grays,"   that  body  of  men  cursed   and 

swore  terrible  things.    The  Carthage  Grays  were  put 


In  Carthage 
jail. 


18  44] 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


377 


V 


£ 


A  few  moments  and  the  fiendish  work  was  finished. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1844 

under  guard  for  mutiny,  but  immediately  released. 
So  the  governor  was  afraid  that  his  army  would  not 
be  true  to  orders  and  law  when  they  got  into  Nauvoo. 
He  disbanded  the  troops  and  ordered  the  men  home, 
excepting  a  guard  for  himself  and  the  Carthage 
Greys,  then  in  camp  not  many  blocks  from  the  jail. 
With  his  guard  he  rode  away  to  Nauvoo,  leaving  a 
guard  of  eight  men  to  protect  the  men  in  the  jail. 

It  was  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June 
27,  when  a  howling,  screaming  mob,  with  faces  painted 
black  and  yellow  surrounded  the  jail 
and  shot  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith  to 
death  and  dangerously  wounded  John 
Taylor.  A  few  moments,  and  the  fiendish  men  had 
finished  their  deadly  work.  They  went  away  like 
frightened  wolves,  and  a  silence  almost  as  appalling 
reigned  in  the  city.  Whole  families  started  from 
Carthage,  fearing  a  terrible  revenge  would  come  to 
the  place.  The  dead  were  washed  and  the  wounded 
cared  for,  and  a  messenger  sent  to  Nauvoo. 

The  governor  had  sat  at  the  table  of  Joseph  Smith 
that  day  and  eaten  the  food  prepared  by  Emma  Smith. 
He  had  warned  the  Saints  to  be  still, 
af°ra1d?°r  ****     and  Fudged  himself  to  care  for  the  pris- 
oners' safety.    As  he  rode  to  Carthage, 
he  met  the  man  going  to  tell  the  news  at  Nauvoo,  and 
he  took  the  man  back  with  him  to  Carthage,  fearing 
the  Saints  would  rise  and  come  upon  the  people  and 
kill  them.     In  the  heart  of  Governor  Ford  was  fear 


1844]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  379 

because  he  had  been  untrue  to  his  office  and  honor. 
There  were  two  men  who  came  to  Nauvoo  with  the 
murdered  men,  beside  those  who  went  out  from  Nau- 
voo to  meet  them. 

Slowly  and  carefully  they  drove  the  wagon  holding 
the  dead  Prophet  and  his  brother  over  the  beautiful 
hill  road  that  lies  between  Carthage  and 
Nauvoo.     The  June  morning  was  cool     {Estate* 
and  still,  but  as  they  neared  Nauvoo,  a 
weeping  company  of  Saints  met  them,  and  more  gath- 
ered as  they  passed  toward  the  Mansion.     The  dead 
were  carried  into  the  wide  old  dining  hall  after  prep- 


The  Martyrs  lay  in  state  in  the  wide,  cool,  old  dining  room  of  the 

Mansion. 

aration,  and  there  lay  in  state  in  the  cool,  wide 
room,  while  all  who  wished  passed  through  the  house 
to  gaze  upon  them.  The  face  of  the  Prophet  wore  a 
smile  and  was  pleasant  even  in  death.  They  were 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  [1844 

strong,  large  men,  perfect  in  health,  and  clear  of  mind 
and  clean  of  body.  A  lifelong  acquaintance  writes 
thus  of  Joseph  Smith: 

"He  was  greatly  beloved  and  revered  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  different  churches,  [branches]  as  also  by 
all  his  acquaintances  with  the  exception  of  the  various 
denominations.  His  soundness  in  the  belief  of  the 
doctrine  to  which  he  gave  heed ;  his  firm,  sound,  candid 
mind,  and  unshaken  disposition  to  do  the  will  of 
heaven  as  he  was  instructed,  caused  him  to  have  many 
enemies  among  the  denominations  of  the  day,  as  also 
many  in  his  own  society.  The  greatest  difficulty 
originated  from  his  not  giving  up  his  own  faith  and 
believing  in  that  of  others.  As  many,  very  many, 
have  grossly  mistaken  his  character,  I  having  been 
acquainted  with  him  for  at  least  fourteen  years  pre- 
vious to  his  death,  take  the  liberty  to  say:  That  no  man 
can  draw  any  inference  of  his  religion  or  character 
from  Salt  Lake  or  Beaver  Island.  Any  person  or 
persons  drawing  inference  of  his  true  character,  or  of 
the  tenets  of  his  doctrine,  from  these  two  histories, 
would  do  him  great  injustice,  and  do  a  great  injury 
to  themselves. 

"Joseph  Smith,  the  'author  and  proprietor'  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  the  founder  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints,  was  six  feet  two  inches 
high,  of  a  form  and  figure  difficult  to  surpass  among 
the  human  family.  He  was  a  man  possessed  of  a  great 
share  of  good  humor.  As  great  a  lover  of  his  country 


1844] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


381 


as  could  be  found  among  men.  Often  spoke  of  the 
Government  as  being  the  most  admirable  on  earth. 
Wept  over  the  mob  of  Missouri  and  Philadelphia 
alike.  He  often  wept  that  mobs  should  arise  under  the 
glorious  institutions  of  the  United  States.  Always 
spoke  highly  of  our  chief  magistrates  and  those  who 
administered  the  laws."-— From  an  address  by  Ly- 
man  Wight.  Copied  from  his  private  manuscript. 

Willard  Richards  and  Colonel  Stephen  Markham 
(you  remember  him  in  his  bravery  in  Far  West) ,  and 
others  had  talked  to  the  Saints  that  morning  and  told 
them  to  be  quiet 
and  let  the  Lord 
reward  these 
wicked  men. 
Governor  Ford 
had  no  idea  that 
these  men  were 
guilty  of  treason. 
That  would  mean 
that  they  were 
going  to  make 
war  on  the  State 
and  be  untrue  to  it,  and  there  was  no  evidence  of  it. 
But  they  were  murdered  in  cold  blood  under  the  prom- 
ised protection  of  Governor  Thomas  Ford,  of  Illinois. 

Of  the  suffering  of  the  children  and  other  dear  ones 
of  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith,  who  can  tell,  as  they 
kissed  the  cold  face  of  the  father ;  for  they  were  loving, 


Where  Emma  Smith  sleeps — close  to  the 
known  Grave." 


'Un- 


YOUNQ  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1844 

living  children,  just  like  you;  and  how  bitter  that  the 
feeble  old  mother  had  to.  bear  it  all,  too.  But  what 
about  the  church?  What  will  become  of  it  now? 
These  two  leaders  were  buried  in  a  grave  known 
only  to  a  few  friends,  because  they 
feared  the  men  who  had  persecuted  them 
even  t9  death  would  try  to  get  money 
for  their  dead  bodies.  Even  those  who  first  knew  the 
secret  grave  were  not  trusted,  for  Emma  Smith  knew 
his  enemies  and  their  allies  even  better  than  did  Jos- 
eph, and  she  had  them  moved  again  to  a  hiding  place 
which  became  in  after  years  dear  to  her  broken  heart. 


1844]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  333 


CHAPTER  81. 

The  Blessing  of  Little  Joseph. 

AND  NOW  we  go  on  with  the  history  of  the  church 
without  these  men  whose  names  are  familiar  to  us, 
and  whose  characters  we  have  learned  to  admire. 
There  is  already  distrust  and  lack  of  faith  in  the 
church,  for  the  Lord  had  said  it  would  be  rejected 
just  as  it  was  if  they  did  not  do  right.  The  most  of 
the  Twelve  are  far  away  from  Nauvoo  in  other  mis- 
sion fields.  Let  us  turn  to  the  old  Times  and  Sea- 
sons, and  see  what  we  can  learn  from  their  yellow 
pages,  for  these  papers  are  growing  old  now. 

We  read  there  a  call  to  the  Saints  to  be  peaceable 
and  quiet  and  wait  for  the  gathering  of  the  leading 
men,  when  it  would  be  decided  what  the 
church   would   do.      It  was   now   that     |j£g*B  to  be 
some  of  them  thought  of  things  that 
had  happened  away  back  in  the  broken  and  terrible 
time  just  after  the  prisoners  got  out  of  Liberty  jail. 

It  was  the  solemn  thing  of  blessing, — a  little  boy  of 
six  years.  Joseph  Smith  called  on  Lyman  Wight  to 
assist  him  in  blessing  the  boy,  and  with  tears  running 
down  his  cheeks,  the  Prophet  said  to  the  quiet,  sturdy 
lad,  with  the  wonderful  dark  eyes  and  quaint  and  dig- 
nified ways: 

"You  are  my  successor  when  I  depart";  and  that 
meant  that  little  Joseph  was  to  take  his  father's  place 


384  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1844 

in  the  church  and  be  its  prophet  and  earthly  leader  of 

the   church   when   his    father   was    gone.     Now   the 

Prophet  was   gone.     Always   now  he 

tTwrf£y  °f  wil1  be  to  those  who  love  him>  "Joseph 
the  Martyr."  Little  Joseph,  a  boy  of 
twelve  years,  had  knelt  by  that  father's  dead  body, 
and  laid  his  boyish  cheek  against  the  cold,  still  face, 
and  had  cried,  "Oh!  my  father,"  but  had  heard  no 
answer,  for  the  father  was  gone.  But  the  child  had 
remembered  many  things  of  which  he  did  not  speak. 
He  pondered  them  over  and  waited,  watching  the 
changes  the  years  brought  to  Nauvoo. 

The  general  advice  was  for  the  Saints  to  continue 
tp  build  up  Nauvoo,  finish  the  Temple  and  Nauvoo 
House.  In  August,  Sidney  Rigdon 
fearLce.C°n"  called  a  conference.  He  felt  that  he 
was  the  only  one  of  the  Presidency  left, 
and  he  should  make  such  call.  But  when  the  confer- 
ence met,  August  8,  1844,  Brigham  Young  took  the 
whole  charge  of  things.  He  told  the  people  that  they 
could  not  appoint  a  prophet,  seer,  and  revelator;  that 
God  must  do  that.  He  said  that  they  could  not  even 
appoint  a  man  at  their  head. 

This,  the  greatest  gathering  of  the  Latter  Day 
Saints  on  earth,  could  not  do  this.  God  must  reveal 
it  from  heaven. 

It  was  at  the  General  Conference  in  October,  1844, 
that  the  Twelve  and  First  Presidency  were  made  just 
like  one  quorum.  The  motion  to  do  this  was  made  by 


1844] 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


385 


W.  W.  Phelps,  and  of  course  as  Brigham  Young  was 
President  of  the  Twelve,  we  find  Phelps  helping  out 
the  Brigham  Young  schemes  all  the  time.  There 
were  many  who  refused  to  follow  the  Twelve.  Even 
three  of  the  Twelve  would  not  go  with  them. 

Lyman  Wight  recalled  the  time  when  he  had  laid 
his  hands   on  the  head  of  little   Joseph.      He  had 
touched   there   the    strong   and   loving 
hands  of  the  father  of  the  boy,  and  the 
memory  of  that  touch  thrilled  him  yet. 
He  remembered  the  cry,  "You  are  my  successor  when 
I  depart,"  and  how  could  he  forget  it? 


Seventies'  Hall.    Originally  a  two-story  structure,  used  for 
many  years  as  the  first  ward  schoolhouse,  now  gone. 

But  that  first  General  Conference  after  the  death 
of  the  Prophet  showed  new  and  strange  things.  Ly- 
man Wight  was  left  in  his  place  in  the  Twelve.  Why, 
we  can  not  say,  for  he  was  openly  rebellious  to  Brig- 


386 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1844 


ham  Young.  William  Marks,  the  president  of  Nau- 
voo  Stake,  was  not  allowed  to  stay  in  his  place,  because 
he  was  in  favor  of  Elder  Rigdon  as  church  leader,  and 
opposed  to  the  Twelve.  George  Miller,  appointed  by 
revelation  through  Joseph  Smith  to  take  the  place  of 
Edward  Partridge,  first  bishop  of  the  church,  was 
made  second  bishop,  and  N.  K.  Whitney  was  made 
first  bishop. 

It  was  at  this  conference  that  Brigham  Young  told 
the  people  that  when  the  Temple  was  finished  he  was 
going  to  tell  them  things  they  had  never  heard  of. 
And  right  here,  less  than  three  months  after  the 
Prophet  was  taken  away,  the  law  was  broken.  The 
revelation  tells  of  seven  quorums  of  seventy,  but  these 

men  ordained  hundreds  of 

seventies,  until  they  had 
eleven  full  quorums  of 
seventies,  and  had  a  start 
on  the  twelfth. 

Nauvoo  was  busy  for  the 
rest  of  the  year.  Some 
fine  brick  houses  were 
built  by  some  of  the  lead- 
ers for  their  own  homes. 
Some  of  these  still  stand. 
The  world  let  the  Saints  alone  for  a  season,  but  there 
was  bitter  feeling  among  those  who  wanted  to  be  lead- 
ers. Sidney  Rigdon  was  abused  and  lied  about,  and 
he  also  abused  others.  In  December,  1844,  the  large 


H.  C.  Kimball's  fine  house,  still 
standing. 


1844J  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

brick  house  of  two  stories  on  Parley  and  Bain  Streets 
was  finished  and  dedicated  as  the  Seventies'  Hall;  and 
they  needed  it,  for  they  had  about  fifteen  quorums  of 
seventy. 


388  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [18*5 


CHAPTER  82. 

Nauvoo  Disgraced. 

AND  NOW  we  will  be  careful  how  we  trust  the  things 
told  in  Times  and  Seasons.  Although  we  follow  the 
story  of  the  church  as  written  there  we  will  see  first 
if  it  is  according  to  law  before  we  accept  it,  for  it  no 
longer  is  a  reliable  testimony  for  the  law  and  teach- 
ings of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day 
Saints,  as  founded  in  Fayette,  New  York,  in  1830. 

In  vain  the  leaders  told  the  people  they  were  doing 
the  things  Joseph  intended  to  do.  But  how  changed 
was  the  way  from  the  past!  Although  many  people 
came  to  Nauvoo,  yet  many,  many  moved  away,  sad 
and  disappointed,  for  there  seemed  no  sure  and  safe 
thing  to  do,  and  keep  in  the  church. 

On  January  21, 1845,  the  legislature  at  Springfield, 
Illinois,  took  the  charter  away  from  Nauvoo,  and  it 

was  no  longer  a  city  with  the  power  to 
Charter  taken  do  thin^s  ^  ghe  had  d(me  Governor 

Ford  did  not  want  the  legislature  to  do 
this.  He  advised  them  to  change  the  charter,  but  not 
take  it  all  away,  for  there  were  twelve  hundred  people 
to  control  and  guard,  and  they  needed  some  kind  of 
power  given  them  by  the  lawmakers  to  do  it.  A.  W. 
Babbitt  was  the  church  representative,  and  he  fought 
hard  to  keep  the  charter,  and  Jacob  B.  Backenstos,  a 
friend  of  the  Saints,  helped  him,  but  the  House  voted 


1845]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  ggg 

against  the  charter  and  so  did  the  Senate,  and  Nau- 
voo  was  disgraced  as  a  city. 

In  April  the  fifteenth  birthday  of  the  church  came, 
and  the   conference  met   and  _  , 
voted  to  have  the  Twelve  act 
as  the  First  Presidency  and 
leaders  of  the  church.     Is  this 
like  the  church  we  found  back 
in  1830?    Yes,  but  rejected  of       Home  of  Joseph  Young 
the    Lord   now.      Men   who 

voted  against  Brigham  Young's  way  of  doing  were 
put  out  of  their  places  in  this  church,  and  Brigham 
Young's  friends  put  in  offices  of  importance. 

In  October,  1845,  the  conference  was  held  in  the 
unfinished  Temple.  At  this  conference,  there  was 
great  preparation  made  for  the  Saints 


to  leave  the  State.    Indeed,  as  a  church,     ™™h  driven 

they  had  to  go  away,  for  the  Missouri 

and  Illinois  people  were  rising  against  them  in  great 

force.     Men  were  mobbed  and  beaten,  and  houses 

burned. 

It  was  at  this  conference  that  Mother  Smith  spoke 
to  the  Saints,  but  her  voice  was  feeble,  and  the  men 
near  her  on  the  stand  told  the  people  that  she  wanted 
to  go  with  them  when  they  left  the  State.  What  she 
may  have  said  can  not  be  proven,  but  it  is  true  that 
she  did  not  go  with  them  and  that  she  lived  with  the 
widow  of  her  son  Joseph,  and  she,  Emma,  and  her 
children  cared  for  her  until  her  death  in  Emma's  home 


390  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1845 

in  Hancock  County,  in  May,  1855.  This  conference 
stopped  the  printing  of  the  Nauvoo  Neighbor,,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  year  the  Times  and  Seasons  was  or- 
dered stopped. 

The  summer  of  1845  was  a  terrible  summer  for 
Nauvoo.  Armed  companies  of  men  gathered  against 
the  Saints.  The  Missourians  coming  up  to  Alexan- 
dria crossed  the  river  to  Warsaw  and  stirred  up  all 
manner  of  evil-minded  men  to  all  manner  of  wicked 
deeds,  and  no  one  seemed  safe  in  Nauvoo  or  the  coun- 
try near.  Men  gathered  in  large  meetings  and  de- 
clared the  Mormons  must  go,  and  the  rejected  church 
agreed  to  go.  The  people  offered  everything  for  sale 
cheap,  but  their  Temple  and  such  things  as  belonged 
to  this  church.  These  things  were  left  with  agents. 

Joseph  Smith's  widow  and  his  brother  William  and 
sisters  Catherine  and  Lucy  refused  to  go  with  Brig- 
ham  Young.  Emma  Smith  frankly 

Widow  and 

children  do  told  the  leaders  her  opinion  of  their 
wickedness,  and  refused  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  them.  Her  husband  had  wanted  her 
to  leave  Nauvoo  if  anything  happened  to  him,  and 
go  back  to  the  East,  to  Cincinnati  or  Kirtland,  but  she 
stayed  at  Nauvoo,  securing  what  she  could  of  their 
family  property.  She  had  a  few  trusted  friends,  but 
they  could  do  little,  for  there  were  enemies  outside  of 
this  rejected  church  and  enemies  in  it. 

The  agents  of  the  rejected  church  visited  this  lonely 
woman  and  threatened  to  make  her  poor  and  ashamed, 


1845]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

and  hinted  at  terrible  things  if  she  did  not  go  with 
them  and  throw  her  influence  with  them  and  stop  talk- 
ing against  them.  With  flashing  eye  and  unfaltering 
voice  she  turned  them  away,  although  she  feared  for 
the  lives  of  her  children.  The  boy  Joseph,  who  had 
been  blessed  to  take  his  father's  place — might  they 
not  try  to  get  him  away  so  that  there  would  be  no  one 
to  keep  the  people  from  following  Brigham? 

She  had  a  frail  little  boy  called  David  Hyrum,  born 
in  November  after  his  father  was  killed,  and  some  of 
the  people  thought  he  would  be  the  prophet  of  the 
church  so  soon  as  he  grew  to  be  a  man.  She  thought 
she  would  get  away  from  the  worry  of  it  all  for  a  while 
and  be  safer  in  another  place,  so  she  rented  the  Man- 
sion and  its  furniture,  and  moved  to  another  town, 
about  forty  miles  away,  named  Fulton. 


392  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1846 


CHAPTER  83. 

The  Exodus  from  Nauvoo. 

THE  SAINTS  hoped  to  stay  in  Nauvoo  until  spring; 
they  had  promised  to  leave  in  the  spring,  but  their 
enemies  came  upon  them,  and  in  February,  1846,  the 
first  of  the  rejected  church  exiles  crossed 
iowaSmg  ]          on  the  ice-covered  river  over  into  Iowa, 
and  moved  westward  in  their  covered 
wagons.    All  the  fall  and  winter  they  had  been  mak- 
ing wagons  and  preparing  to  go.    Now  thousands  of 
wagons  were  ready,  and  as  fast  as  other  things  were 
prepared,  they  moved  away. 

The  Temple  had  been  partly  finished.     They  had 
dedicated  it  in  its  unfinished  condition,  and  it  never 
was  finished;  they  had  used  it  as  a  workshop  to  pre- 
pare for  this  journey.      The   Nauvoo 

desert0e°d.abOUt  House  was  never  finished.  When  May, 
1846,  came  to  the  hills  of  Nauvoo,  it 
found  it  almost  deserted.  Sixteen  thousand  Saints 
were  on  their  way  to  the  West,  they  knew  not  where. 
California  and  Oregon  were  the  places  they  hoped  to 
reach,  but  thousands  of  miles  lay  between  those  wild, 
unsettled  lands  and  these  homeless  wanderers. 

In  Nauvoo  there  were  maybe  a  thousand  of  the 
Saints  too  sick  or  poor  to  leave,  and  a  few,  sick  and 
weary  of  it  all,  were  letting  the  rejected  church  go  as 
it  would.  Some  went  back  to  the  Eastern  States; 


1846]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  393 

some  settled  quietly  on  farms  or  in  other  cities  and 
spoke  not  of  religion  for  a  time.  The  enemies  of  the 
church  were  not  willing  that  even  this  remnant  of  the 
rejected  church  should  stay  in  Nauvoo. 

They  worked  up  a  fight.  They  did  not  want  the 
Saints  to  vote  at  the  election  in  August,  and  much 
trouble  came  to  them  because  they  did 
vote.  In  fact,  from  early  in  May,  1846,  Nau!oo°f 
there  was  constant  trouble  until  finally 
in  September  there  was  a  battle  fought  on  the  eastern 
border  of  Nauvoo,  with  over  a  thousand  of  their  enemy 
against  a  small  band  of  Saints,  for  there  were  only 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Saints  left  in  Nauvoo 
who  were  able  to  fight.  But  the  new  citizens  who  had 
bought  the  Saints'  homes  joined  with  the  Saints  to 
fight  this  band  of  soldiers  and  other  men.  Of  course 
the  Saints  were  driven  from  the  city,  and  on  the  sev- 
enteenth day  of  September,  1846,  the  last  band  of 
church  people  crossed  the  river  into  Iowa,  and  sick 
and  miserable  and  helpless,  about  six  hundred  and 
forty  of  them  camped  there  on  the  river  bank.  Little 
babies  came  to  this  wretched  camp,  and 

,.,,,,.  ,.  j.  „  Camp  in  Iowa. 

immediately  their  mothers  died;  tor 
there  was  nothing  to  keep  away  the  rain  and  cold 
wind,  and  they  had  nothing  to  eat  but  boiled  wheat 
or  parched  corn.  Sometimes  they  ground  the  wheat 
in  a  coffee  mill  and  made  coarse  bread  of  it.  Indeed, 
they  had  not  enough  clothing  to  keep  them  warm,  and 
they  had  few  wagons  and  poor  teams. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1847 

Somewhere  the  leaders  of  these  people  were  jour- 
neying westward,  with  enough  to  eat,  and  wagons  and 
carriages.  Across  the  river  were  their  homes,  empty 
now,  and  their  gardens  and  wells  of  good,  pure  water. 
Far  away  they  heard  the  ringing  of  a  bell  and  drunken 
shouts  and  songs  of  men,  making  coarse  and  filthy 
festival  in  the  Temple  on  the  hill.  Many  of  their  sick 
ones  died,  and  they  wrapped  the  bodies  in  the  bark  of 
trees  and  laid  them  under  the  Iowa  sod. 

We  read  that  the  men  of  the  apostles'  quorum  who 
had  gone  with  the  first  company  out  of  Nauvoo,  when 

they  reached  a  valley  in  the  West  now 
AU  Baptized  knQwn  a§  Gpeat  galt  Lake  Valley>  were 

all  baptized  by  Brigham  Young,  and 
he  confirmed  them  and  gave  them  all  the  power  and 
rights  belonging  to  apostles.  Heber  C.  Kimball  bap- 
tized Brigham  Young  and  confirmed  him,  and  on  Sun- 
day, August  8,  1847,  everyone  in  the  camp,  about  two 
hundred  and  twenty-four,  were  rebaptized  and  re- 
turned to  Winter  Quarters,  now  Florence,  Nebraska. 


1847]  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  395 


CHAPTER  84. 

A  New  Church  Started  by  Brigham  Young  near  Omaha,  Nebraska. 

IN  OCTOBER,  1847,  some  of  the  Twelve  arrived  at 
Winter  Quarters,  and  in  December,  1847,  they  had  a 
council  meeting  and  a  feast  at  the  home  of  Orson 
Hyde,  and  started  another  church  with  Brigham 
Young  for  president,  and  Heber  C.  Kimball  and 
Willard  Richards  counselors.  Brig- 
ham  Young  wrote  a  letter  afterwards 
to  Orson  Spencer,  saying  that  he  had 
suggested  the  idea  of  "organizing"  the  church,  that 
day  out  on  the  wild,  uncivilized  lands  near  Omaha. 
This  was  now  another  church  moving  westward.  It 
is  no  longer  the  church  started  back  in  Fayette,  New 
York. 

Three  of  the  Twelve  refused  to  accept  the  teachings 
of  Brigham  Young.  We  read  that  William  Smith, 
Lyman  Wight,  and  John  E.  Page  objected  to  the 
new  way  of  doing  and  refused  to  go  with  them.  Many 
who  started  on  that  long  journey  to  the  West  left  the 
train  of  wagons,  some  in  Iowa,  some  in 
Nebraska,  but  thousands  made  the 
journey.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty 
of  the  Saints  in  the  Eastern  States  went  in  a  ship 
named  Brooklyn  around  on  the  two  oceans  to  Cali- 
fornia, where  they  settled  in  a  colony  on  the  San 
Joaquin  River. 


396 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1847 


Colonel  Fremont  was 


of  California  at 


governor 

that  time,  and  was  glad  to  have  people  come  there  to 
live.  They  did  not  live  in  a  colony  very  long.  Some 
of  them  went  to  different  places.  Some  joined  Brig- 
ham  Young's  church.  Some  waited  for  Joseph 
Smith's  son  to  come  from  Nauvoo,  and  many  never 
cared  for  any  church  again.  There  were  many 
churches  now,  started  by  men  from  the  rejected 
church,  and  most  of  the  Saints  were  bewildered,  and 
all  were  troubled.  No  one  felt  satisfied. 


Ruins  of  Temple  at  Nauvoo. 

Emma  Smith  moved  back  to  Nauvoo  and  reared 
her  family  there,  and  in  her  old  age  died  there,  hon- 
ored and  respected  by  the  whole  country  and  town. 


1848]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY  397 

Her  boys  went  to  school  in  the  old  Seventies'  Hall, 
and  played  in  the  Temple,  in  and  out  of  its  unfinished 
rooms.     One  night  in  October,   1848, 
the  small  sleeping  room  of  the  boys  was          burned, 
flooded  with  bright  light,  and  the  family 
aroused  by  the  cries  of  "Fire!"     Looking  from  the 
chamber  window,  they  could  see  plainly  the  fire  burn- 
ing high  up  in  the  Temple,  almost  a  mile  from  where 
they  stood.    Three  of  the  pillars  of  the  stone  Temple 
stood  for  years,  blackened  and  marred  by  the  flame. 
Then,  fearing  the  stones  might  fall  on  the  children 
who  loved  to  play  around  the  ruins,  it  was  torn  down, 
and  men  hauled  the  stone  away  to  build  other  houses. 

The  church  was  now  split  up  into  many  churches. 
So  many  men  said,  "I  am  the  leader,"  that  some  of  the 
people  forgot  about  the  right  way.    But  up  in  Wis- 
consin were  two  branches  of  the  church 
that  never  changed,  and  there  was  an-     ^tl^Joseph. 
other  down  in  Illinois.     These  people 
had  meetings  just  as  usual  and  said:  "We  will  wait 
until  God  speaks  to  little  Joseph,  and  then  we  will 
follow  him  if  he  acts  according  to  the  law." 

Away  over  the  ocean,  in  the  Society  Islands,  many 
of  the  brown  islanders  had  joined  the  church,  and  they 
too  waited  for  the  son  of  Joseph.  Wherever  there 
were  any  Saints  in  all  the  world,  they  felt  sad  and 
troubled.  Some  of  them  gave  up  hope  and  turned 
away  from  religion.  Some  tried  to  find  the  right  way, 


398 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


[1848 


LITTLE   JOSEPH. 

From  an  old  painting. 


1848]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

and  some  kept  the  good  religion  of  the  church  in  1830 
in  their  hearts,  and  waited  silently,  for,  they  hardly 
knew  what. 


400  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1848 


CHAPTER  85. 

Seeking  the  Old  Paths. 

AMONG  the  first  elders  to  go  hunting  for  the  leader 
who  meant  only  to  keep  the  church  together  until  the 
Lord  should  speak,  were  Jason  W.  Briggs  and  Zenos 
H.  Gurley.  These  men  went  to  Strang,  a  man  who 
claimed  he  was  leading  the  right  church,  but  they 
soon  discovered  that  his  church  believed  in  polygamy 
and  other  things  not  found  in  the  church  organ- 
ized in  1830.  Jason  W.  Briggs  left  him  and  tried 
William  Smith,  another  leader  of  a  church,  and  he 
was  not  according  to  the  pattern. 

Then,  indeed,  Elder  Briggs  was  in  deep  trouble. 
As  he  rode  over  the  prairies  of  Wisconsin  toward 
Beloit,  he  prayed  to  the  Lord  for  help.  It  was  No- 
vember 18,  1851,  a  day  in  late  autumn.  He  thought 
of  the  people  of  God  and  prayed  with 
a  heavy  heart,  and  the  Lord  answered 
and  spoke  to  him  by  his  Holy  Spirit  and  told  him  to 
follow  none  of  these  leaders,  but  to  wait  and  in  time 
God  would  send  a  son  of  Joseph  the  Martyr  to  the 
church. 

The  Lord  told  Elder  Briggs  to  go  preach  the  things 
that  were  in  the  Bible,  Book  of  Mormon,  and  Doc- 
trine and  Covenants,  and  after  many  days,  the  prom- 
ises made  to  Joseph  Smith  would  come  to  pass.  This 
seemed  beautiful  indeed  to  Elder  Briggs,  and  he  went 


1848]  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   HISTORY 

at  once  preaching  that  polygamy  was  against  God's 
law,  and  in  his  deep,  strong  voice  telling  the  people 
to  wait  for  the  son  of  the  Martyr,  and  in  his  way  try- 
ing to  encourage  the  Saints  in  keeping  the  law  found 
in  the  three  books.  J.  J.  Strang  and  William  Smith 
called  him  an  apostate,  but  he  did  not  turn  away  from 
his  work,  for  he  was  a  true  elder  in  the  old  church,  and 
had  the  right  to  preach. 

That  same  autumn,  Elder  Zenos  H.  Gurley,  who 
had  grown  sick  of  false  leaders,  was  spoken  to  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  how  glad  he  was  to 

.,  ,     «-r,.  •     ^  /v?      God's  promise. 

obey  that  message !  Rise  up !  Last  on 
all  that  claim  to  be  prophets,  and  go  forth  and  preach 
the  gospel,  and  say  that  God  will  raise  up  a  prophet 
to  complete  his  work."  By  the  knowledge  God  gave 
to  this  man,  he  saw  how  small  and  mean  was  the  work 
of  these  so-called  leaders,  and  he  told  Reuben  New- 
kirk  about  it.  They  agreed  very  solemnly  with  joined 
hands  to  do  what  the  Spirit  had  told  them  to  do. 

Soon  after  this,  they  had  a  visit  from  David  Powell, 
a  man  from  Beloit,  about  fifty  miles  away.  This 
man  brought  the  revelation  given  to 
Elder  Briggs.  Elder  Gurley  did  not 
accept  it  for  about  two  weeks.  Then, 
one  evening  while  he  prayed,  the  voice  of  God  spoke 
to  him,  declaring:  "The  successor  of  Joseph  Smith  is 
Joseph  Smith,  the  son  of  Joseph  Smith  the  Prophet." 

Mr.  Gurley  went  to  a  branch  of  the  church  that  he 
had  converted  while  with  Strang,  and  told  them  how 


402  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  [1848 

God  had  spoken.  At  first  they  thought  he  was  not 
doing  right,  but  they  soon  saw  that  he  was  right.  One 
day  they  had  a  meeting  and  Elder  Gurley  asked  them 
if  they  wished  to  turn  away  from  Strang  and  wait  for 
the  son  of  Joseph  Smith  to  come  and  be  their  prophet, 
to  show  it  by  rising  to  their  feet.  In  a 
darkness.6  moment  the  whole  congregation  was  on 

its  feet,  and  a  great  shout  of  joy  and 
praise  went  up  to  God.  They  felt  as  if  they  had  been 
in  a  dark,  dark  night,  and  it  was  suddenly  morning. 

After  that,  Elder  Gurley  wrote  to  Elder  Briggs, 
telling  him  they  had  received  his  revelation,  and  were 
ready  to  wait  for  the  promised  prophet. 

The  branches  of  the  church  that  had  kept  the  faith 
all  these  years,  since  the  Prophet  had  been  killed,  heard 
about  these  two  men  and  their  good  work,  and  joined 
with  them  in  the  waiting  time.  It  seemed  now  that 
it  was  not  so  hard  to  wait,  for  God  was  blessing  them 
with  light  and  understanding,  and  the  dark  and  cloudy 
time  was  over ;  and  they  waited  and  prayed  for  Joseph, 
the  man  from  Nauvoo. 


The  waterfall  and  quaint 
old  bridge  at  Nauvoo. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


403 


In  the  hill  country  in  New  York 5 

Home  of  Joseph  Smith's  father,  near  Manchester 9 

The   hill   called    Cumorah    10 

House  where  Joseph  Smith  and  Emma  Hale  were  married 12 

Near  Manchester,   New   York    13 

Copy  of  the  old  language  as  it  looked  upon  the  plates   15 

Martin    Harris 18 

Farm  of  Martin   Harris    19 

Oliver    Cowdery    21 

On  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna   23 

David    Whitmer    28 

Lake  region  near  Seneca  Lake,  Palmyra,  New  York 29 

Palmyra,  New  York    38 

Village  of  Kirtland  on   the  flats 54 

Sidney    Rigdon     56 

Old  road  near  river    76 

Edward    Partridge     81 

Temple  Lot  at  Independence,  Missouri    88 

The  Evening  and  the  Morning  Star 95 

Up  the  hill  from  the  river,  Independence,  Missouri   100 

Seneca    Lake    101 

Mobbing  of  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rigdon   .,  105 

Frederick    G.    Williams    '. 110 

Birthplace  of  "Little  Joseph"   114 

Along  the   Blue .  123 

Waterway   in   Jackson    County    » 129 

Courthouse  at  Independence,  Missouri,  in  1830 132 

Country  east  of  Independence,  Missouri    137 

Near   the   old   landing    138 

Old  landing  on  the  Missouri,  near  Independence,  Missouri 139 

In   Missouri    141 

Rocky   glen   in   Missouri    144 

Courthouse  at  Liberty,  Missouri  145 

Hills  of  Kirtland  in  the  spring    152 

Chagrin    River     161 

Stone  quarry  near  Kirtland  where  they  worked  out  stone  for  Temple  170 

Joseph  Smith,  the  Prophet    175 

Woodland  close  to  stream    180 

Site  of  Far  West,  Missouri    182 

View   of   Kirtland   Temple    190 

Writing  table  and  chair  of  Father  Smith  in  Temple   198 

West  attic  room  of  the  Temple 199 

Patriarchal  blessing  given  by  Joseph  Smith,  sr 200 

Interior  of  Nauvoo  Temple    205 

Erie    Canal     '. 210 

Teachers'    license    214 

Home  of  Hyrum  Smith  in  Kirtland    222 

Shoal  Creek ;  where  Saints  crossed    225 


404 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


Site  of  Far  West  Temple,  1909 228 

Scene   near   Kirtland    Temple    233 

Where  many  dear  ones  were  left  in  Kirtland  239 

Lyman  Wight's  house  243 

"Prairie  schooner"  or  moving  wagon   244 

A.   W.  Doniphan    254 

"Suddenly  on  the  quiet  little  village  there  came  a  rush  of  men 

shouting  and   shooting"    265 

Liberty   Jail   in    1838    285 

Hyrum  Smith    286 

Old  Blockhouse,  known  as  the  "Homestead"   296 

First  house  in   Nauvoo    297 

Shores  of  Illinois  on  the  Mississippi  River   300 

Mrs.  Emma  Hale  Smith  in  riding  habit  304 

Times  and  Seasons    310 

Spring  in  Nauvoo    314 

Old   cemetery  near  Nauvoo    316 

Old  chimney  in   Nauvoo    330 

Share  in  Nauvoo  House  Association   332 

Nauvoo   House    333 

Nauvoo    Temple    337 

Joseph  Smith  and  the   Indians    344 

Nauvoo  House  seen  from  the  southeast   316 

Old    Main   Street    351 

Boggs   Spring  in  Independence,  Missouri    353 

Home  of  Sidney  Rigdon,  first  post  office  in  Nauvoo   362 

Copy  of  the  manuscript  of  the  Book  of  Mormon   369 

Mississippi    River    373 

Old    "Mormon    Arsenal"    374 

Jail   at   Carthage,   Illinois    376 

A  few  moments  and  the  fiendish  work  was  finished   377 

The  Martyrs  lay  in  state  379 

Where  Emma  Smith  sleeps — close  to  the  "Unknown  Grave" 381 

Seventies'    Hall    385 

H.   C.   Kimball's   fine  house    386 

Home  of  Joseph  Young    389 

Ruins  of  Temple  at  Nauvoo    396 

Little    Joseph     398 

Waterfall  and  quaint  old  bridge  at  Nauvoo   402 

Frontispiece:     Kirtland  Temple. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 
INDEX 

Chapter    1     5 

Joseph   Smith    tells   of   seeing   a   vision — Book   written    on    gold 

plates — Stones  used  by  ancients. 

Chapter  2.     The  HiU  Where  the  Wonderful  Things  Were  Hidden       9 
Place  where  the  plates  were  hidden — The  things  in  the  stone  book. 

Chapter  3.     The  Learned  Men  and  the  Writing  on  the  Plates 13 

The  golden  plates — Urim  and  Thummim — Martin  Harris. 

Chapter  4.     The  Lost  Manuscript    17 

Plates  taken  away — Some  of  the  pages  lost — Plates  returned 
to  Joseph — The  Lord  promises  to  show  the  plates  to  three 
witnesses. 

Chapter  5.     Prays  for  a  Scribe    21 

Oliver  Cowdery — Oliver  Cowdery  is  Joseph's  scribe — Ordained 
by  an  angel — Joseph  Knight  brings  provisions. 

Chapter   6.     The   Whitmers    26 

David  Whitmer  goes  after  Joseph — Translating  at  the  Whitmer 
house. 

Chapter  7.     The  Witnesses  and  Their  Story  31 

Things  promised  the  three  witnesses — The  vision  to  the  three 
witnesses — Eight  witnesses  shown  the  plates. 

Chapter  8.    The  Church  Organized  at  Fayette,  New  York 35 

Plates  given  back  to  the  angel — Witnesses  to  search  out  the 
twelve. 

Chapter  9.     The  Wonderful  Story  Being  Printed    37 

The  story  on  the  plates  kept  safe — Indians  called  Lamanites. 

Chapter  10.     The  First  Preaching  in  the  Church   40 

First  conference. 

Chapter  11.    Joseph  Smith  Before  the  Courts  of  the  Land 43 

Emma  Smith  baptized — Mobs  Josiah  Stoal — Joseph  Smith  per- 
secuted— The  Lord's  anointed — Mr.  Reed's  testimony. 

Chapter  12.     Commandments  about  Hymns  and  the  Sacrament  49 

Joseph  would  not  change  commandment — Turn  Emma  Smith's 
father  against  Joseph  Smith — Joseph  Smith  moves  to  Fay- 
ette—One  to  receive  revelations — Church  physician. 

Chapter  13.     The  Mission  to  the  West   54 

Sidney  Rigdon  first  sees  the  Book  of  Mormon — Frederick  G. 
Williams. 

Chapter  14.     Something  More  about  the  Book  of  Mormon  58 

The  angel  named  Moroni — The  Manuscript  Found — Indians  near 
Buffalo  first  to  hear  Book  of  Mormon. 

Chapter  15.     The  Visit  of  the  Missionaries  to  the  Indians  63 

Oration  to  the  Indians — Book  hidden  in  Cumorah — Present  In- 
dians with  Book  of  Mormon. 

Chapter   16.  Translation   of  the   Bible   Begun 68 

Orson  Pratt — Going  to  Ohio — Church  in  Kirtland. 

Chapter  17.     The  First  Bishop  Called   73 

Inspired  Translation  of  Bible. 


406  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

Chapter  18.     The  Story  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  Told  to  the  Indians  76 

Commandment  to  go  to  the  West — War  near — One  wife. 
Chapter  19.     The  First  Historian  and  First  Conference  at  Kirtland, 

Ohio,    80 

Many  coming  to  Ohio — Elder  starts  for  Missouri — No  Kansas 
City. 

Chapter  20.    The  Travelers  Toward  Zion 85 

Books  for  children — W.  W.  Phelps  going  to  Missouri — Suffering 
of  Missionaries. 

Chapter  21.     The  Temple  Lot  and  Zion   88 

Colesville  Branch  in  Missouri — Good  things  in  Missouri — Disad- 
vantages of  the  new  country. 

Chapter  22.     Temple  Lot  Blessed  and  First  Conference  Held  in  Zion  93 
First  funeral  in  Zion — Saints  not  to  hurry  to  Zion — Hiram,  Por- 
tage County,   Ohio — A   church  paper. 

Chapter  23.     The  First  Board  of  Publication 97 

Grammar   School   in    Kirtland — Revelations    carried    to    Missouri 

— First  marriage  in  Zion — Translate  Bible. 
Chapter  24.     Joseph   Smith   and   Sidney   Rigdon   See   Vision   of  the 

Different   Glories,   and   Soon   after 'Suffer   Persecution 103 

Emma  Smith   adopted   twins — Story  of  mob — Joseph   Smith 
preaches. 
Chapter  25.     President  of  the  Church  Ordained   and   Acknowledged 

by  the  People   110 

Book  of  Commandments. 

Chapter  26.     First  Paper  Published  by  the  Church   113 

Translating  Bible — Little  Joseph  born. 

Chapter  27.    The  War  of  Rebellion  Foretold  by  Joseph  Smith  116 

War  to  begin  in  South  Carolina. 

Chapter  28.     The  Church  in  Missouri  Warned  by  the  Lord 119 

Translating  New  Testament  finished — Word  of  Wisdom — Coun- 
selors ordained — Every  man  in  his  own  place. 

Chapter  29.    Condition  of  People  in  Missouri  and  Ohio 125 

Mob  in  Independence — Commandment  to  study — About  Inspired 
Translation — Inspired  Translation  of  Bible  finished — Emma 
Smith's  trust. 

Chapter  30.     The  Work  of  Enemies  in  Missouri    129 

Ministers  and  mob — Appeal  to  governor — Offered  ransom. 

Chapter  31.     The  Exodus  from  Jackson  County  Begins  135 

Not  slaveholders — Give  up  arms — Baby  born  in  rag  carpet  tent 
— Shower  of  stars. 

Chapter  32.    New  Printing  Press  and  What  Became  of  Old  One 141 

Corner  stone  of  Temple  at  Kirtland  laid — Preparing  printing 
house — Old  printing  press — The  lawyers  in  Liberty. 

Chapter  33.     The  Exiles 147 

Mob  rule. 

Chapter  34.     Two  Messengers  Sent  to  Headquarters  150 

Messengers  preparing  to  start  for  help — Messengers  arrive  in 
Kirtland. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


407 


Chapter  35.     The  Saints  Still  Helpless  in  Clay  County   155 

Appeal  to  President  of  United  States — Guns  distributed  to  mob 
— Saints  petition  governor — Word  of  Wisdom. 

Chapter  36.     "Zion's  Camp"  a  Relief  Company  for  the  Saints 161 

Helping    the    Saints    in    Zion — The    relief    company    start — An 
armory  in  Clay   County — Preach   on   Sundays — Storm   saves 
camp — Visit    Governor    Dunklin — Sheriff   visits    camp— Fish- 
ing River  revelation — Cholera  in   camp — The  last  of  camp. 
Chapter  37.     Missouri  Saints  Still  in  Exile;  Ohio  Saints  Building  the 

Temple    167 

Colonel  Lucas  resigns — Mobbers  meet  committee — Seven  mob- 
bers  drowned — Missouri  Council  organized — Start  for  Kirt- 
land — Work  on  Kirtland  Temple — Temple  walls  made  beauti- 
ful— Church  papers. 

Chapter  38.     Joseph  Smith   173 

Messenger  and  Advocate — Sketch  of  Joseph  Smith — Two  men 
make  covenant. 

Chapter  39.  Saints  Invited  to  Leave  Clay  County   179 

About  Saints  voting — The  prairie  lands — People  of  refinement 
— Not  slaveholders — New  trouble — -Saints  sell  in  Clay  County 
— Schoolhouses  and  mills. 

Chapter  40.  The  Exodus  to  Far  West 184 

Friends  to  Saints — Alexander  W.  Doniphan — The  new  county — 
The  children. 

Chapter  41.  The  Choosing  of  the  Twelve  Apostles 187 

Revelation  six  years  before — Mission  of  Twelve — Seventies — 
High  Priests. 

Chapter  42.  The  Work  in   Kirtland    190 

Sidney  Ridgon  and  Temple — Wise  men  appointed — Doctrine  and 
Covenants — Church  laws — Church  books — One  wife  law — 
Recorder  chosen — Old-time  music. 

Chapter  43.     Saints  Busy  in  Kirtland    195 

Going  to  Zion — Like  old-time  prophets — News  from  Missouri — 
Saints  happy. 

Chapter  44.  The  West  Attic  Room  in  the  Temple 198 

Elders'  school — Visions  in  Temple — Witness  dies. 

Chapter   45.  The    Temple    202 

Temple  rules — Asked  forgiveness — Young  men. 

Chapter  46.  The  Temple  Finished  and  Dedicated    205 

Temple  beautiful — Everything  in  order — Temple  given  to  Lord — 
Long  service. 

Chapter  47.  Interesting  Things  Happen  in  Kirtland    209 

Promise  of  fame — Wise  men  to  go  to  Zion — First  passenger  car 
— Money  troubles. 

Chapter  48.  The  Meetings  in  the  Temple  212 

High  school  in  Temple — Good  news  from  Zion — Change  in  edi- 
tors— Debts. 


408  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

Chapter  49.  Getting  ready  for  the  First  Foreign  Mission   217 

Orson  Hyde  repents — First  sermon  in  England — Change  men  in 
quorums — New  recorder — Sickness  and  death — Voice  of 
warning — Good  work  of  Council. 

Chapter  50.  In  Caldwell  County,  Missouri    224 

Land  of  Zion  in  autumn — A  new  governor — Upper  Missouri  towns 
— People  wanted  a  temple — Diahman  boys — Room  for  all — 
Busy  scenes  in  Far  West — One  president  rejected — No  liquor, 
tea,  coffee,  or  tobacco — Edward  Partridge  and  the  lawyers. 

Chapter   51.  The    Foreign    Missionaries    232 

Try  to  ruin  the  church — Printing  office  burned — English  mission 
— Without  money  in  New  York — First  foreign  conference — 
Return  of  missionaries. 

Chapter  52.  A  Sad  Year  for  the  Church 236 

Joseph  Smith's  history — Leaders  leave  Kirtland — Mob  follows 
thejm — Winter  on  Missouri  hills — Paid  for  land — Two  months 
on  the  way. 

Chapter  53.  Spring  and  Conference  in  Far  West 240 

Sidney  Rigdon  ill  on  the  way — Conference  in  Far  West — Church 

named — Spring  in  the  new  country. 

Chapter  54.  The  Beginning  of  War  in  Daviess  and  Caldwell  Counties  245 
A  mistake — Religion  helps  understanding — Low  prices  on  things 
needed — Papers   of   church — Another  election — The   fight   of 
Gallatin — Agreement  of  Judge  Black — Peace  meeting — Mob 
still  at  work — Missouri  militia  not  trusted — War  begins. 

Chapter  55.  The  Seventies  Start   for   Kirtland 251 

Seventies'  camp — Canadian  camp — Seventies'  carnp  suffer  for 
food— Study  law. 

Chapter  56.  The  Sound  of  Battle   254 

The  two  war  camps — Treacheiy  of  the  mob — The  mobbers'  can- 
non— Diahman  boys  sent  as  protection — Diahman  boys  find 
buried  cannon. 

Chapter  57.  The  Battle  of  Crooked   River 259 

A  midnight  trumpet  call — "Captain  Fear  Not" — Outlaw  sol- 
diery— Lucas  comes  to  Far  West — General  Atchison  leaves 
command — Constant  danger. 

Chapter  58.  The  Massacre  at  Haun's  Mill   261 

A  peace  meeting — Two  terrible  hours — One  sepulcher  for  all — 
Men  of  importance  in  mob. 

Chapter  59.     The  Army  before  Far  West   269 

Waiting  to  destroy  Far  West— Work  of  Colonel  Hinkle— Lead- 
ers betrayed — Doniphan  refuses — Prisoners  of  war — Gov- 
ernor's soldiers  in  Far  West. 

Chapter  60.  Traitors  in  the  Church    273 

Colonel  Hinkle's  excuse — Action  of  Partridge  and  Hinkle  com- 
pared— Letter  from  a  prisoner. 

Chapter  61.  The  Last  Days  in  Far  West   27T 

General  Clark's  speech — Leading  spirits — Doctor  Avard  bitter 
enemy — No  money  for  Saints — Another  petition — Just  men 
— The  old  graveyard — The  saddest  Christmas. 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 


409 


Chapter   62.  The   Missouri    Prisoners    283 

Prisoners  tell  the  gospel — Prisoners  abused — Sent  to  different 
jails. 

Chapter   63.  The   Prisoners    Free    288 

Judge  and  jury  drunk — Visit  with  Stephen  Markham — The 
"star  witness" — Stephen  Markham  and  the  guards — Prison- 
ers escape. 

Chapter  64.  The  Exodus  from  Far  West    292 

The  bark  casket — Suffering  of  women  and  children — A  new 
friend — Laying  of  corner  stone. 

Chapter   65.  The   Church    in    Illinois 295 

Saints  in  Quincy — Saints  in  Iowa — Looking  back  from  the  new 
city — On  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

Chapter  66.  The  Last  Missouri  Prisoner  Finds  the  New  City   302 

Missionary  work  begins — Judge  Higbee's  work — New  hymn  book 
— Letter  of  Robert  Lucas — Cause  just. 

Chapter  67.  The  Village  of  Commerce  Changed  to   Nauvoo 308 

The  faithful  judge — Friendly  governors — New  paper — Frederick 
G.  Williams  asks  forgiveness — Postmaster  for  new  city — 
Name  of  new  city  Nauvoo. 

Chapter  68.     W.  W.  Phelps  Returns  to  the  Church  in  Nauvoo. 316 

Paper  in  England — Death  of  first  bishop — Friends — Kidnaping 
— Letter  from  Phelps — Letter  to  Phelps — John  C.  Bennett 
— First  patriarch  dies — Governor  Boggs  persecutes — New 
stakes — The  Lord's  house. 

Chapter  69.  Nauvoo   Made    a   City    324 

A  university — In  Scotland — Apostles  in  England — President  of 
Twelve  chosen. 

Chapter  70.  A   Company  of  Saints  Arrive   from    England    328 

Australia — Winter  in  Nauvoo — Times  and  Seasons — Kindness 
of  Doctor  Galland — A  new  bishop — Nauvoo  Legion — Nau- 
voo House. 

Chapter   71.  The   Temple   at   Nauvoo    Planned    336 

People  from  England — The  Temple — The  corner  stone  laid — David 
Patten's  successor — English  Saints. 

Chapter  72.  Busy  Scenes  in  Nauvoo 340 

In  Kirtland — Joseph  Smith  arrested — Joseph  Smith  set  free — 
Stone  for  Temple — In  many  lands — Death  of  president  of 
high  priests. 

Chapter  73.  Laying  of  the  Corner  Stone  of  the  Nauvoo  House   ....344 
Indian    visit — Editor   of    paper    dies — West    Indies — Autumn    in 
Nauvoo — Corner    stone    of    Nauvoo    House — Committee    to 
Washington — New  president  of  High  Priests'  Quorum — New 
editors. 

Chapter  74.  Hastening  the  Building  of  the  Temple   349 

Church  warned — Poor  in  Nauvoo — Elders  Page  and  Hyde. 


410  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY 

Chapter  75.  Trouble  in  Nauvoo    353 

Shooting  of  Governor  Boggs — John  C.  Bennett  makes  trouble — 
Joseph  Smith  arrested — No  right  to  arrest — Governor  of 
Illinois  not  a  friend — Foolish  stories — Emma  Smith  writes 
the  governor — Hiding  from  enemies. 

Chapter  76.  Enemies  of  the  Church  Seek  to  Take  Charter  from  Nau- 
voo   358 

Thomas  Ford  governor — Proven  innocent — Save  the  charter — 
Young  people's  society — Missing  men — Thieves  and  robbers 
— Cause  of  trouble. 

Chapter  77.     President  of  the  Church  Kidnaped   362 

Work  on  Temple  stopped — More  kidnaping — Law  fulfilled. 

Chapter  78.  Politics  Make  Trouble  for  the  Saints 366 

Want  "Mormon  vote" — Against  polygamy — Men  turn  from  truth. 

Chapter  79.  Leading  Churchmen   Arrested    371 

Judge  Higbee  and  sons — Nauvoo  Expositor — Mobs  forming — 
Friends  to  Saints — The  last  arrest — Governor  promises  pro- 
tection. 

Chapter  80.  Joseph  and  Hyrum  Smith  Slain   376 

In  Carthage  jail — Governor  goes  to  Nauvoo — Death  scene  in  Car- 
thage— Governor  Ford  afraid — Dead  lie  in  state — In  unknown 
grave. 

Chapter  81.  The  Blessing  of  Little  Joseph   383 

Saints  to  be  quiet — The  boy  of  twelve — Call  a  conference — 
Twelve  divided. 

Chapter  82.  Nauvoo  Disgraced    388 

Charter  taken  away—Church  driven  away — Widow  and  children 
do  not  go. 

Chapter  83.  The  Exodus  from  Nauvoo  392 

Crossing  into  Iowa — Nauvoo  about  deserted — Battle  of  Nauvoo — 

All  baptized  again. 
Chapter  84.  A  New  Church  Started  by  Brigham  Young  near  Omaha, 

Nebraska '. 395 

Another  church — Brooklyn  colony — Temple  burned — Waiting  for 
Little  Joseph. 

Chapter  85.  Seeking  the  Old  Paths   400 

Lord  speaks — God's  promise — The  voice  of  the  Spirit — After  the 
darkness. 


Books  for  Your  Study  Hour 

THE  INSTRUCTOR 

This  book  is  just  the  thing  for  the  busy  man,  as  well  as 
the  student.  Subjects  arranged  topically.  Important  his- 
torical evidences  cited. 

126  Cloth    $.75 

127  Leather    1.00 

128  Flexible,   gilt   edges    1.50 


COMPENDIUM   OF  FAITH 

Under  topical  headings  this  work  gives  quotations  from 
the  three  standard  books  of  the  church — showing  their 
agreement  in  teaching.  To  the  busy  man  this  work  is  of 
inestimable  value.  It  also  contains  a  brief  synopsis  of 
Ecclesiastical  History,  especially  that  part  touching  on  the 
apostasy  and  restoration. 

141       Cloth    $  .75 

141%  Leather 1.00 

174       Flexible   .  ..1.50 


WHAT  IS  MAN? 

This  book  treats  on  the  nature  of  man,  his  immortality  and 
final  destiny.  Its  clear-cut  arguments  answer  and  refute 
completely  the  soul  sleeping  theory.  It  is  a  work  that 
every  person  should  thoroughly  read  and  assimilate.  We 
know  of  no  deeper  work  ever  written  on  the  subject. 

140  Cloth    50 

Order  by  Number 

Send  all  orders  to 

HERALD  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  LAMONI,  IOWA 


Books  for  Every  Library 

THE  SAINTS'  HYMNAL 

Contains  a  choice  collection  of  hymns.  Carefully  selected 
by  competent  musicians,  with  reference  to  general  assemblies 
as  well  as  special  meetings. 

108  Leatherette,  30  cents;  per  dozen   $3.20 

110  Cloth,  limp,  35  cents;  per  dozen   3.75 

111  Cloth  and  leather 50 

112  Full   leather    1.00 

114  Flexible  leather   .  .1.75 


ZION'S  PRAISES 

Printed  especially  for  Sunday  school  work.  This  song 
book  has  won  the  admiration  of  all  music  lovers.  Your 
Sunday  school  is  far  from  complete  without  it.  The  selec- 
tions are  splendid. 

70       Cloth,  each   40   cents;   per  dozen $4.50 

70*4  Full  leather 1.00 

70%  Flexible,  gilt  edge   1.75 


WITH  THE  CHURCH  IN  AN  EARLY  DAY 

A  story  told  in  a  very  interesting  manner.  A  tale  of 
affection  and  religious  zeal,  related  pathetically.  The  latter 
day  message  is  interwoven  in  a  way  that  will  hold  the  deepest 
interest  of  the  reader.  A  splendid  work  to  introduce  the 
angel's  message. 

243  Cloth    $  .75 

Order  by  Number 

Send  all  orders  to 

HERALD   PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  LAMONI,  IOWA 


Church  Books  (or  Your  Library 

THE  TWO-STORY  BOOK 

A  strong  delineation  of  humanity.  The  character  studies 
are  splendid.  From  first  to  last  the  reader's  attention  is 
held.  It  effectively  throws  out  in  bold  relief  the  great  truth 
of  the  Master's  message.  It  is  one  of  Elbert  A.  Smith's 
best  works. 

247  Cloth   $  .50 


PRESIDENCY    AND    PRIESTHOOD 

A  book  replete  with  information  on  a  subject  of  vast  im- 
portance. The  question  of  authority  will  always  retain  a 
vital  place  in  the  plan  of  salvation.  This  book  contains  an 
array  of  proofs  and  facts  which  leave  the  reader  in  no 
doubt  as  to  what  constitutes  proper  authority  to  administer 
in  the  name  of  the  Master.  The  writer  has  presented  his 
subject  in  a  strong  affirmative  way. 

134  Cloth    $1.00 


ARCHAELOGICAL    COMMITTEE    REPORT 

This  work  has  been  corrected  and  revised.  It  contains 
many  interesting  proofs  that  the  American  continent  was 
inhabited  anciently  by  civilized  nations.  The  book  is  a 
compilation  of  facts  gathered  from  the  writings  of  our 
modern  explorers.  The  Book  of  Mormon  student  needs  this 
at  his  right  hand. 

137  Cloth    $.50 

Order  by  Number 

Send  all  orders  to 

HERALD  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  LAMONI,  IOWA 


Histories  on  Easy  Payments 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  OF  LAT- 
TER DAY  SAINTS 

Four  volumes  are  completed.  The  fifth  volume  is  now 
being  prepared.  A  full  and  accurate  history  of  the  rise 
and  progress  of  the  church  is  recorded.  These  books  are 
absolutely  essential  to  the  careful  student. 

Volume  1. 

119  Cloth    $1.50 

120  Leather  back  and  corners    2.00 

121  Leather 2.50 

122  Gilt    edges    3.00 

Volume  2. 

186  Cloth   t 1.50 

187  Leather  back  and  corners  2.00 

188  Leather    2.50 

189  Gilt   edges    3.00 

Volume  3. 

190  Cloth 1.50 

191  Leather  back  and  corners    2.00 

192  Leather 2.50 

193  Gilt   edges    3.00 

Volume  4. 

194  Cloth    1.50 

195  Leather   back   and   corners    2.00 

196  Leather    2.50 

196V2  Gilt  edges    3.00 

Order  by  Number 

Send  all  orders  to 

HERALD  PUBLISHING  HOUSE,  LAMONI,  IOWA 


,,- 


m 

iJr&t 


